actually, taxes were MUCH higher before the boomers. During the 1950s, the top income tax rate was 90%!
Nobody actually paid a 90% rate though. The 90% bracket didn’t kick in until $400,000, when the average family income was under $5,000. The equivalent today would be about 5 million dollars.
The (very) few people with that kind of money were liquid enough to exploit the politically favored industry shelters - in fact, their money was forced into those politically favored industries which was exactly the point. A command economy under the guise of choice.
In terms of percent of GDP, individual income tax collections were about 7.5% of GDP in the 50s. Today they are 8.5%. The four highest individual income tax years in US history were 1998-2001, averaging 9.8%.