Molly Mitchell Moore

Yeah. So it's pretty simple initially. And as those tax rates go up, the incentive to make it more complicated also goes up. And that begins happening in the 1920s.

Yeah. So it's pretty simple initially. And as those tax rates go up, the incentive to make it more complicated also goes up. And that begins happening in the 1920s.

Yeah. So it's pretty simple initially. And as those tax rates go up, the incentive to make it more complicated also goes up. And that begins happening in the 1920s.

We see a sort of conservative move in the 1920s. Three Republicans in a row, three different Republicans in a row, are elected in 1920, 1924, and then in 1928. They all have the same treasury secretary, Andrew Mellon.

We see a sort of conservative move in the 1920s. Three Republicans in a row, three different Republicans in a row, are elected in 1920, 1924, and then in 1928. They all have the same treasury secretary, Andrew Mellon.

We see a sort of conservative move in the 1920s. Three Republicans in a row, three different Republicans in a row, are elected in 1920, 1924, and then in 1928. They all have the same treasury secretary, Andrew Mellon.

Andrew Mellon is pretty interested in reducing the progressivity of the tax code, but he understood that, like, taxing the rich has always been popular, right? If you look through American history, the sort of cry of taxing the rich is always one of the popular things.

Andrew Mellon is pretty interested in reducing the progressivity of the tax code, but he understood that, like, taxing the rich has always been popular, right? If you look through American history, the sort of cry of taxing the rich is always one of the popular things.

Andrew Mellon is pretty interested in reducing the progressivity of the tax code, but he understood that, like, taxing the rich has always been popular, right? If you look through American history, the sort of cry of taxing the rich is always one of the popular things.

And so Mellon knows that he can't get rid of the progressive tax code, but what he can do is make it less progressive, sort of sneakily, right, by introducing all of these kind of write-offs, what we might think of as tax shelters, and allow people with that kind of income, income from investments, income from businesses, to shield some of that income from the tax code.

And so Mellon knows that he can't get rid of the progressive tax code, but what he can do is make it less progressive, sort of sneakily, right, by introducing all of these kind of write-offs, what we might think of as tax shelters, and allow people with that kind of income, income from investments, income from businesses, to shield some of that income from the tax code.

And so Mellon knows that he can't get rid of the progressive tax code, but what he can do is make it less progressive, sort of sneakily, right, by introducing all of these kind of write-offs, what we might think of as tax shelters, and allow people with that kind of income, income from investments, income from businesses, to shield some of that income from the tax code.

Yeah, right. So you preserve the appearance of a progressive tax code, but you're actually making it less progressive by giving people a lot of ways to hide some of their income.

Yeah, right. So you preserve the appearance of a progressive tax code, but you're actually making it less progressive by giving people a lot of ways to hide some of their income.

Yeah, right. So you preserve the appearance of a progressive tax code, but you're actually making it less progressive by giving people a lot of ways to hide some of their income.

The Revenue Act of 1942 makes U.S. income tax into a mass tax rather than a class tax by lowering the threshold at which income first starts to be taxed. So the number of taxpayers, right, income taxpayers, goes from about, I want to say, 3.5 million Americans in 1939 to about 42 million Americans in 1945.

The Revenue Act of 1942 makes U.S. income tax into a mass tax rather than a class tax by lowering the threshold at which income first starts to be taxed. So the number of taxpayers, right, income taxpayers, goes from about, I want to say, 3.5 million Americans in 1939 to about 42 million Americans in 1945.

The Revenue Act of 1942 makes U.S. income tax into a mass tax rather than a class tax by lowering the threshold at which income first starts to be taxed. So the number of taxpayers, right, income taxpayers, goes from about, I want to say, 3.5 million Americans in 1939 to about 42 million Americans in 1945.

Yeah, right. So they feel pretty good, which is the sort of extraordinary part. And one of the things that's really sort of fascinating is to look at, well, I mean, how do you sell this income tax that, you know, people don't like paying taxes necessarily, right?

Yeah, right. So they feel pretty good, which is the sort of extraordinary part. And one of the things that's really sort of fascinating is to look at, well, I mean, how do you sell this income tax that, you know, people don't like paying taxes necessarily, right?