[ryacko]

After numerous natural disasters, wars, etc, the one long-term constant for prosperity seems to be human capital.

If you have society that attracts the smartest individuals for the most productive professions (which is right now anything involving information technology), your society wins.

Your society will develop new concepts first, will be the first to sell it, and the first to reap revenues from it.

Besides, it is very easy to tax the megacorps.

Tariffs on intellectual property. Or reduce tax deductions on licensing fees. Bermuda is the center of intellectual property ownership.

[simonh]

The smartest people in the most productive professions are above average earners. How is taxing them into the ground going to attract them?

[Jeff_Brown]

Taxing them into the ground would indeed be a bad idea. It's a question of levels. Tax rates in the 20th century for 55 years were above 50%, and for 45 of those were above 70%[1]. You get a lot more for being in the US than a certain tax rate.

[1] https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Historical_Marginal_...