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Marc S.Your description of the Laffer curve is perhaps a bit simplified. What the theory is basically predicated upon is the following two postulates.
A) At a 0% tax rate, the government receives no revenues. This is obvious.
B) At a 100% tax rate, the government receives no revenues. This is perhaps less obvious -- but the theory is that no one would have an incentive to work under such a scenario.
The implication, therefore, is that there is a theoretic curve between 0 and 100 % of tax rates that lead to the maximisation of revenues by a government. Unfortunately, the economy is too complex to isolate this single cause and its resultant effect. This was precisely the theory that led to Reaganomics, and it is still debated somewhat fiercely to this day. There is not an obvious solution as to where the efficient frontier lies from a government perspective. If, for no other reason, given the US's changing stance on tax rates over the last 25 years...and our relative tax rate compared to so many other countries of the world.
(This same argument can be expanded to nearly every supply/demand commodity...some of which the results are easier to quantify)