Mad Men

Germany's left wing party Die Linke wants to introduce a top marginal income tax rate of 100% for annual incomes above 500,000 Euro. That's rather steep. Prepare for a wave of outrage about these mad socialists. But one should bear in mind that by historical standards this proposal is neither particularly radical, nor particularly socialist. Viewers of Mad Men will know that the top marginal income tax rate was 70% in the US in the late 60s. And that was after it had been lowered from 91% where it had been under the well known Bolshevik Dwight D. Eisenhower.