No rich person is going to go like "Well... I could make money on this, but not going to do it because the state is going to tax it..." Utter bullshit, which h

No rich person is going to go like "Well... I could make money on this, but not going to do it because the state is going to tax it..." Utter bullshit, which has been reflected in actual US investment history since the Capital Strike of 1937. The perception of fairness goes both ways, you know. Not to mention reflected in my father's (and others') economic behavior as the Reagan tax rate cuts took effect, and they put much less effort into sheltering income from very high tax rates (generally, something with a net vector sum of zero) and focused more on just, you know, running good businesses. Then there's the minor detail that a tax increase can turn a profitable investment into a loss. The constant chaos of changing tax rates, or at least serious proposals to do so, also changes the nature of investments, for example favoring quick gains before the government might ruin it.