There's a funny collective amnesia in the US about what happened before 1980

The tax system used to be highly progressive (ahem, 91% top marginal income tax rate)—but hey, never happened

The minimum wage was super high from 1938 to 80—but $15 would be unprecedented

¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

It’s a terrible mistake to let the MAGA crowd claim America’s past

Yes, the US did lots of terrible things before 1980, don’t get me started

But also some good and interesting ones. Kicking the nazis’ ass: good! High minimum wage + quasi-maximum-income policy: interesting!

To illustrate the evolution of the minimum wage was, here's what I think is the most relevant statistic:

The hourly federal minimum wage, relative to average output produced per hour worked

Very high from 1938 to early 1980s. Much higher than in France, for instance.

As for tax rates, you can either look at statutory top marginal tax rates (left) or at effective tax rates, taking all taxes at all levels of government into account (right)

Again very high from the 1930s to the 1980s, much higher than in a country like France

/end