Wednesday, March 13, 2013

The Financial Times Believes That High Taxes On The Rich Will Cause Them To Emigrate

The Financial Times reported that increasing taxes on the rich is causing them to flee to lower tax countries.  It cites one example of a rich family moving to London in order to escape higher taxes in France.  The evidence for the claim that high taxes cause rich families to emigrate is rather weak.  The evidence is reviewed in this article.  A lot of the evidence comes from research in the US.  States that increased their taxes on the rich have not experienced the huge emigrations to tax friendly states that are commonly reported in the press.  Moreover, US citizens can change their residence to to tax friendly states without giving up their citizenship. 

The Financial Times seems to share the Ayn Rand fantasy that she published in Atlas Shrugged.  Her novel was about the rebellion of the "job creators" who decided to go on strike against state policies which encroached upon their freedom.  The strike was intended to show the "moochers" how much they depended upon the "job creators".  John Galt was the leader of the strike.  He has become a hero to many libertarians.

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