[alasdair_]

The specifics matter.

Ignore the time value of money for a moment and imagine you work for minimum wage for thirty years, building a business, then sell it and get ten million dollars for a single year, hoping to fund your retirement and pay for college etc. Compare that to getting $333K/year for thirty years - the taxes paid would be considerably different.

Personally, I think that we need to look at taxes and earnings over a whole lifetime rather than on an arbitrary yearly basis.