In all likelihood, we could raise more revenue by increasing marginal tax rates on the highest income earners, for instance by introducing new tax brackets at the one-million- and ten-million-dollar levels of annual income. We do not find much evidence supporting the counter-argument that higher taxes on this population will harm economic growth by eroding high earners’ initiative. In fact, research by our MIT colleague and Nobel Prize–winning economist Peter Diamond, in partnership with Clark Medal winner Emmanuel Saez, suggests that optimal tax rates at the very top of the income
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