Laffer curve cited directly by Laffer. For example, in 1924, Secretary of Treasury Andrew Mellon wrote: "It seems difficult for some to understand that high rates of taxation do not necessarily mean large revenue to the government, and that more revenue may often be obtained by lower rates". Exercising his understanding that "73% of nothing is nothing", he pushed for the reduction of the top income tax bracket from 73% to an eventual 24% (as well as tax breaks for lower brackets). Mellon was one of the wealthiest people in the United States, the third-highest income-tax payer in the mid-1920s, behind John
Optimal foraging theory shown as a curve of energy gain per time spent in a patch (Figure 3). The curve starts off with a steep slope and gradually levels off as prey becomes harder to find. Another important cost to consider is the traveling time between different patches and the nesting site. An animal loses foraging time while it travels and expends energy through its locomotion. In this model, the currency being optimized is usually net energy gain per unit time. The constraints are the travel time and the shape of the curve of diminishing returns. Graphically, the currency (net energy gain per