Saw a post about this at !history@hexbear.net and was a bit confused by exactly how badly the people there were going at each others throats in the comments. Nobody seemed able to agree on what precisely happened in 1971. Suggested explanations included:

  • Neoliberalism being declared the state religion by Grand Moff Richard Nixon
  • The gold standard being abolished
  • The oil crisis
  • The Republican and Democrat parties becoming increasingly divided
  • Declining birthrates
  • Institutional Racism

If any of you could give some explanations with, like, sources that aren’t just 10 pages of graphs with arrows pointing at 1971, that would be pretty great.

  • Rivalarrival@lemmy.todayEnglish
    17·
    10 days ago

    1970 was the last time the government collected more than 3% of GDP in taxes. After that point, there was less and less of a need to avoid taxation.

    We need a new tax bracket for the ultra wealthy. The top current bracket is 37% above ~$300,000. For most of the 20th century, the top tier tax bracket was 91%. We need a 91% tax bracket on income beyond $600,000. We need some sharp incentive for the wealthiest among us to avoid.

    • MajorHavoc@programming.dev
      8·
      10 days ago

      We need a 91% tax bracket on income beyond $600,000. We need some sharp incentive for the wealthiest among us to avoid.

      This is a fantastic idea, and it wouldn’t actually require eating any of them, necessarily.

    • misk@sopuli.xyz
      2·
      10 days ago

      Ultra wealthy got so rich you won’t undo inequality with just income tax. There needs to be a cap on existing wealth and if they opposed income tax, they won’t part with it willingly.