6 ms·

Doesn't everyone? Plus, there's other reasons to be skeptical of wealth taxes, capital flight is a real thing.

pmiller2 6y ago
That's why you pair them with capital controls, to keep that from happening. This, unfortunately, requires significant cooperation from the international community, and ought to be done before any wealth tax is imposed. BTW, have you seen how expensive it is for high net worth individuals to renounce US citizenship?
marricks 6y ago
Isn't that just another myth peddled by wealthy groups? This was a pretty good study and didn't find that effect[1]. Just on the face of it, sure if you're wealthier you have greater ability to move but that also means you probably like where you are because you chose to be there. Most of my high school friends dispersed around the country solely for job opportunities, not because they wanted to be somewhere. [1] https://minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2011/02/documents/millionaire-migration.pdf https://minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2011/02/documents... > The New Jersey millionaire tax experiment offers a potent testing ground, given the magnitude of the policy change and the relative ease of relocating to a different state tax regime without leaving the New York or Philadelphia metropolitan areas. Using a difference-in-difference estimator, we find minimal effect of the new tax on the migration of millionaires.
beardedetim 6y ago
> Doesn't everyone? God I hope not. How empty would we all be if we all wanted to have more money than the next guy.
mcphage 6y ago
> capital flight is a real thing Yep, that's why all of the rich people have left New York and California.
- throwaways885 6y ago
  You think rich people are paying those kind of taxes? Why wouldn't they leave if this wealth tax were suddenly imposed upon them?
  - mcphage 6y ago
    > You think rich people are paying those kind of taxes? Judging by the amount of wealth in New York and California: obviously yes. > Why wouldn't they leave if this wealth tax were suddenly imposed upon them? Because they want what the taxes get them.
Spare_account 6y ago
>capital flight is a real thing. Can anyone provide some examples of it happening in an economy like ours?
- topicseed 6y ago
  Not sure if "France" is an "economy like yours" but they have definitely suffered from capital flight following a wealth tax hike[0][1]. [0] https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1268381 https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1268381 [1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonhartley/2015/02/02/frances-75-supertax-failure-a-blow-to-pikettys-economics/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonhartley/2015/02/02/frances-7...

That's why you pair them with capital controls, to keep that from happening. This, unfortunately, requires significant cooperation from the international community, and ought to be done before any wealth tax is imposed. BTW, have you seen how expensive it is for high net worth individuals to renounce US citizenship?

marricks 6y ago

Isn't that just another myth peddled by wealthy groups? This was a pretty good study and didn't find that effect[1]. Just on the face of it, sure if you're wealthier you have greater ability to move but that also means you probably like where you are because you chose to be there. Most of my high school friends dispersed around the country solely for job opportunities, not because they wanted to be somewhere. [1] https://minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2011/02/documents/millionaire-migration.pdf https://minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2011/02/documents... > The New Jersey millionaire tax experiment offers a potent testing ground, given the magnitude of the policy change and the relative ease of relocating to a different state tax regime without leaving the New York or Philadelphia metropolitan areas. Using a difference-in-difference estimator, we find minimal effect of the new tax on the migration of millionaires.

beardedetim 6y ago

> Doesn't everyone? God I hope not. How empty would we all be if we all wanted to have more money than the next guy.

mcphage 6y ago

> capital flight is a real thing Yep, that's why all of the rich people have left New York and California.

throwaways885 6y ago
You think rich people are paying those kind of taxes? Why wouldn't they leave if this wealth tax were suddenly imposed upon them?
- mcphage 6y ago
  > You think rich people are paying those kind of taxes? Judging by the amount of wealth in New York and California: obviously yes. > Why wouldn't they leave if this wealth tax were suddenly imposed upon them? Because they want what the taxes get them.

Spare_account 6y ago

>capital flight is a real thing. Can anyone provide some examples of it happening in an economy like ours?

topicseed 6y ago
Not sure if "France" is an "economy like yours" but they have definitely suffered from capital flight following a wealth tax hike[0][1]. [0] https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1268381 https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1268381 [1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonhartley/2015/02/02/frances-75-supertax-failure-a-blow-to-pikettys-economics/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonhartley/2015/02/02/frances-7...