Following up on last week's post, IRS Releases 2007 Tax Return Data on Wealthiest 400 Americans: Income Soared 31% (to $345m), Tax Rate Fell 3.2% (to 16.6%):

• Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Tax Rate for Richest 400 Taxpayers Plummeted in Recent Decades, Even as Their Pre-Tax Incomes Skyrocketed:

The effective federal income tax rate for the 400 taxpayers with the very highest incomes has declined by nearly half over the past two decades, even as their pre–tax incomes have grown five times larger, new IRS data show. The top 400 households paid 16.6% of their income in federal individual income taxes in 2007, down from 30% in 1995.

• Too Much: A Commentary on Excess and Inequality, Our Plutocracy: A Sobering New Portrait:

The IRS has released, with not a trace of fanfare, the latest figures on America’s 400 highest incomes. A shame. These new IRS figures deserve fanfare, at least a trumpet blast or two. Our top 400, the new numbers show, have moved into an exalted realm. They now rank among the greatest plunderers of all time. …

The IRS official figures on top 400 incomes only go back to 1992. But we can assemble comparable totals from earlier IRS data releases.