actually there were a number of factors which allowed the rich to avoid those taxes. the biggest arguably was that the investment tax was low and so people (like many of the mega rich do today) took out investments and then used them to take out loans
They didn't pay those rates on their entire income, just above a certain level, forcing more, smaller companies or encouraging reinvestment instead of candy for shareholders.
That is not the full picture though. The actual effective tax rate was closer to mid 40% due to loopholes and deductions. Was higher than it is today but not this drastic. I agree high earners should pay more, don’t misunderstand me. Just want to see accurate things on BlueSky as opposed to Twitter
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They didn't pay those rates on their entire income, just above a certain level, forcing more, smaller companies or encouraging reinvestment instead of candy for shareholders.