Aparna Mathur, Sita Slavov & Michael R. Strain (all of the American Enterprise Institute), Should the Top Marginal Income
Tax Rate Be 73 Percent?, 137 Tax Notes 676 (Nov. 5, 2012):

In this article, Mathur, Slavov, and Strain respond
to the argument by Peter Diamond and
Emmanuel Saez that the socially optimal top marginal
income tax rate is around 73%, with a
range from 54% to 80% [The Case for a Progressive Tax: From Basic Research to Policy Recommendations, 25 J. Econ. Persp. 165 (2011)]. The authors argue that
Diamond and Saez’s analysis underestimates the
distortive effect of a higher tax rate on real economic
choices and embodies judgments about fairness
that many Americans may find unacceptable.
They also assert that Diamond and Saez’s underlying
economic model cannot prudently be used as
the basis for specific, real-world policy recommendations.

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