re: Jimmy Carter on Colbert

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Personally he is a very good and very genuine man.

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You know who else was very "genuine" and personable?


Hitler!

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There were massive loopholes in the tax code that allowed most of the wealthy of that day to pay far, far less. Also, because of WW2 the US at that time was responsible for just over 60% of the total manufacturing going on in the entire world. We are far from that point today. 

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Good points for sure. Out of curiosity what would you say was the most oppressive era for taxation in the U.S. and conversely what was the best?

Dale you are confused again, buzz the nurse

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It depends on what your definition is. Do you mean marginal or effective rates? Individual, business or total combined? Adjusted for inflation or not? Are we taking into account how much debt the federal government is at the time?

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Bottom line....basic common sense view. Impact upon business and rank and file.

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Paid 9.25% interest on that loan.

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Well, since they went to over 18.5%, 9.25 was a steal.

In that case I would pick the 70's. The increase in effective rates surged (especially toward the end of the decade) while GDP was all over the board due to removal of the Gold Standard, multiple Recessions and the Fed raising rates up to 20% to stem inflation.

Had WW2 not set up a very unique situation where the US ended up being responsible for ~60% of the world's manufacting for decades after the war ended, the extreme expansion of the tax base from ~7% of citizens to over 2/3 from one year to the next would have otherwise put the 1940's at the top of that category.