No, your parent is correct. In addition to the pragmatic point about how nobody actually paid those rates, there is an ideological mismatch as well: Those ver

No, your parent is correct. In addition to the pragmatic point about how nobody actually paid those rates, there is an ideological mismatch as well: Those very high marginal tax rates were not enacted to address inequality or any of the typical social goals that we think of when we advocate for higher marginal tax rates. Rather, they were imposed to combat war profiteering during the WW2 period: "The crisis of World War II led Congress to pass four excess profits statutes between 1940 and 1943. The 1940 rates ranged from 25 to 50 percent and the 1941 ones from 35 to 60 percent. In 1942, a flat rate of 90 percent was adopted, with a postwar refund of 10 percent; in 1943 the rate was increased to 95 percent, with a 10 percent refund."[1] Can you argue for a very high marginal tax rate as a means of wealth distribution and furthering progressive policy ? Yes, of course you can. Have we ever had one ? Not really. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excess_profits_tax#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excess_profits_tax#United_Stat...