We highlight and explain eight lessons from optimal tax theory and compare them to the last few decades of OECD tax … policy. As recommended by theory, top marginal income tax rates have declined, marginal income tax schedules have flattened … theory. Moreover, some of theory's more subtle prescriptions, such as taxes that involve personal characteristics, asset …

individuals' moral intuitions. The essay then explores an alternative normative framework, dubbed the Just Deserts Theory …