1) Taxes-as-transfer-payments rarely work like we intend. These are not lossless transforms, the rule-sets are complex and somebody has to run it. Actual effici

1) Taxes-as-transfer-payments rarely work like we intend. These are not lossless transforms, the rule-sets are complex and somebody has to run it. Actual efficiency estimates are very hard to come by. This being said, actual transfer programs in the US seem quite efficient. 2) Americans at least have been described as "temporarily embarrassed millionaires." The odd entertainment value of gawking at rich people as celebrities is really a thing. 3) There is an eternal struggle between the Coase Theorem and Pigou taxation. 4) The people who self-select for wealth may not consume as much as people who do not self-select for wealth. I heard the quote on the show "Vikings", but I imagine it is not original with them - "power is only given to those who will lower themselves to pick it up."