laffer curve
if the tax rate is 0% (draw a dot on a piece of paper) tax revenues are $0. if the tax rate is 100% (draw another dot to the right of the first) tax revenues are again $0. nobody goes to work if the government takes their whole paycheck. now draw a rainbow from one dot to the other. point to the top of the rainbow. that's where tax revenue is maximized. point to the right side of the rainbow. if the tax rate is too high tax revenues go down. ergo we should lower taxes to raise revenue. qed. makes sense right? which is what makes it such a beautiful con. it's not obvious what's wrong with it. in fact so many things are in error a critic suffers paralysis trying to figure out where to start. and that moment of silence is misinterpreted as having no objections. sigh.