International comparison of the income tax rate on the wealthy

Thomas Piketty posted the top income tax rate in five of the richest big countries over the past 115 years. Most Americans don’t realize that the top tax rate in the US is considerably lower now than it was for most of the time America has had an income tax, but I didn’t realize that the same is true for the other rich countries as well.

The two big reductions in inequality were the two world wars although the Great Depression might have also had an effect.