What tax rate?

0 if you can afford.

If you're below 20% of your max pop, even 0% increases your pop by 40 per turn.

If you're above 20% of your max pop, setting tax rate at 0% will harm your production even further because your max pop increases alot. Setting tax rate at 70%, you get good production but pop gain is slow. ><.

I guess the right way is to go 70% tax till your pop gain is almost 0 then slowly decrease your tax.

Pop gain is actually the same whatever your tax rate is, until your current pop is near your max pop (about 1/2 to 2/3 of max pop). The pop gain formula does not contain "tax rate".

Well, the formula that does contain tax rate is that which ties pop to production.

Once you recover to 20% of max population setting tax to 70% (until pop has fully recovered) increases your production a lot.

You also need to get rid of your Residential (and possibly Residences too although I have not tested that).

There is another thread on this.

Yes, we know this. Setting a higher tax rate lowers your maxpop, which increases your pop / maxpop ratio, and this increases production.

Basic math.

Yes. Same point regarding Residential.

Of course a casher does not produce anything other than money so it is different for them. But if, as a techer, Indy, farmer or oiler you want production while recovering (and hard to think why you wouldn't) you do as above.

As a techer I found myself playing turn by turn on express (which is quite seriously tedious) but the tech rate varies turn by turn as the pop recovers.

As a general point, I had plenty of money on hand plus the ability to sell stockpiled tech which obviously helped but overall I was a bit surprised at how quickly my country recovered. AB runs will remain the wrecking process of choice I think.