I think this is probably a part of a larger trend in migration. I lived in 2 countries as a child and 2 more as an adult. I'm 30. I think around 70% of of my co

I think this is probably a part of a larger trend in migration. I lived in 2 countries as a child and 2 more as an adult. I'm 30. I think around 70% of of my coworkers have lived in more than one country. Basically, migration isn't an extreme decision anymore. Your lot doesn't need to be bad or hopeless to migrate from Germany to Spain or spend a couple of years on Seol. The difference in earnings/lifestyle doesn't need to be an order of magnitude. A marginal improvement can be enough to move some people. Wealthy modern states rely quite heavily on the middle class for taxes. Within the middle class you'll find groups (eg single, childless, urban Europeans) that pay very high taxes while consuming very few services. They earn via highly taxable salaries. Most of their earnings are consumed and thus subject to GST/VAT and excise taxes. They also play the real estate, credit card, car financing, etc games that funnel money into finical institutions & industries which are so important to the political-economic goals politicians take on. The net result of this is that for a middle class household in a wealthy country, wealth is somewhat of an illusion. Imagine a 30 year old unmarried couple earning €100k - well off on paper. They can expect to pay about €30-35k (depending on how the salary is split) in income tax. €1-€2k on flat taxes (car tax, tv tax, local tax). Then 25-40% of the remaining on a mortgage - say €21k. That leaves 40k-50k per year for taxable spending. Most of this will be taxed at 23%. Some stuff like petrol, alcohol, tobacco & cars will be taxed at a higher rate. These people are still well off. It's hard not to be with to above average salaries and no expensive children. But are not near as well off as their earnings suggest they should be. In some Eurpoean countries those taxes prop up a wasteful government. In some, they are paying for recent bank bailouts. In some, they are paying for an expensive legacy welfare state (with corresponding welfare class). In some, they are paying for past infrastructure investments. The best run countries (Netherlands, Germany, Scandinavian countries) do a good job of funneling those revenues to the same people at different stages of their life. Only a portion of most people's life is spent in this highly taxable, no need for government services state. But even in these cases it might make sense for a self interested individual to study at the countries expense and then earn outside of their tax jurisdictions. If middle class migration and 'shopping around' for high quality of living becomes more prevalent, the tax revenue implications are enormous.