Arthur Laffer is most closely associated with the curve showing that tax revenue can fall after tax rates become too high.
The Laffer curve represents a relationship between a tax rate and the government revenue it collects. At a zero rate, revenue is zero. At a hypothetical 100 percent rate, the model suggests that taxable activity or declared income could be driven so low that revenue also approaches zero. Between those points, the curve may reach a revenue-maximizing rate.
Laffer sketched the concept for officials in 1974, and journalist Jude Wanniski later helped popularize the name. The idea became especially influential in debates over supply-side economics during the late 1970s and 1980s.
The curve does not identify one universal tax rate that maximizes revenue. Its shape depends on the tax, taxpayer behavior, enforcement, deductions, and economic conditions. It also does not prove that every tax cut raises revenue.