Somewhere around 2.5 years into the FDR era....the President came came up and got the Revenue Act of 1935 passed via the House and Senate (30 Aug 1935).
The basic background of the act? It raised the federal income tax on high income wage earners....taking up to 75-percent of the highest income earners.
Unofficially? It was always worded as the wealth tax.
A year later, the Revenue Act of 1936 occurred....aimed at corporations, instead of people.
The CATO Institute does a good job of telling the effects of the two acts, and I strongly recommend a read (it's a good 30 to 40 minute read).
Generally, because of the increased taxes....you come to three obvious occurrences:
1. Risky ventures are cut to the bone, and you see this effect for several years.
2. There is some suggestion that two separate depressions occurred....one owing itself to Wall Street crisis, and the other coming later with the tax acts being passed.
3. People often miss the point that Hoover himself.....had a tax increase deal done in 1932, and probably did more to harm goods and services....rather than individual income itself.
The general problem with major tax increases...is that you end up funding governmental programs which tend to show little to no success in helping the common 'little-guy' on the street. A bunch of middle people carve off their chunk of the loot, and you just sit there....mostly amazed....that so much loot was grabbed, and your take was next to nothing.
