[anamax]

> I agree with your analysis but I think you missed the fact that al ot of other countries tax spending through VAT rather than income.

Sales taxes and VAT makes the US even more progressive in comparison because the rich spend a smaller fraction of their income on VAT-taxed things.

For example, Bill Gates spends maybe 5x as much as me on dinner yet we both pay the same tax rate on said dinner. His "dinner budget" is in the noise in his budget. Mine isn't.

Luxury item taxes are in the noise for him so the fact that I don't pay them doesn't make a significant difference wrt progressiveness.