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I was sort of startled by how much reaction this piece on top tax rates got; most of it positive, but the negative reactions were revealing 1/ nytimes.com/2019/01/05/opi…
Not surprisingly, most of the pushback came from the right, where I got a fair number of complaints that the government has no right to tax away income that people have earned. Worth thinking about that: isn't it an argument against any taxation at all? 2/
Or if you admit that we need a government, maybe it's an argument against any kind of progressive taxation (and also against any social safety net). And that's a coherent point of view -- but one the public overwhelmingly rejects 3/ pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017…
In practice, hardly anyone is willing to make the libertarian argument against progressive taxes honestly; they almost always slip in the false claim that taxing the rich severely damages the economy too. And that's why doing the economics right matters 4/
I've also gotten some pushback from Sanders supporters, who complain that I criticized some of his proposals but praise something AOC said -- and say that's inconsistent. But you know, economic ideas have substance as well as a political lean. 5/
I'm not going to praise anything that comes from the left; it depends on what the proposal is. As it happens, the case higher tax rates on top incomes is backed by solid economics. 6/
