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Comment by mc32 | Hacker News Reader

As long as there are reasonable countries they can move to and moving doesn’t impact their business enough, people will move to more favorable tax environments even if they have qualms about the new options politics if taxes get too high. A few years ago France imposed larger taxes and a few wealthy people left and some even took debatable citizenship options.

Some people may not like this to happen but it does and would.

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I think most people are quickly coming to the conclusion that maybe the wealthy aren't as critical to a community as they would like everyone to believe.

The big argument around NYC's pied-à-terre tax among other policy changes was that it would force the wealthy to relocate outside of NYC to more favorable locations. That hasn't happened, and for a place like NYC, very unlikely to happen because people are attracted to the city for what it provides. Worst case, they leave, the property values decline and the city becomes more affordable with any gaps in businesses likely filled by those living and invested in the community.

It depends it may have an analogue in the evaporative cooling effect in the tax and investment base.

If the state goes too far, those with wealth may take their wealth and invest in in friendlier investment climates where their home country suffers from wealth drain and potentially could end up as country versions of Detroit (or maybe like VZ where as the state confiscated property investment dried up).

The problem is that these taxes, like every other tax, will soon apply to the middle class (who have the real wealth), and they very much will leave. Either physically leave, or they will leave like they do in a lot of European countries: find some excuse to first become long-term ill, then go onto unemployment. And obviously the state cannot stop this. You want to do this? There's nothing the state can do about it (other than seriously lower pensions, unemployment and medical insurance)

There are articles about UK families that have been doing this for 5 generations. The entire family.

The problem is not money. There are far less working-age people, and it'll keep dropping for 25 years minimum. Which means the only solution is people working more, for someone else. A little bit more every year, for now without any visible end. Either that will happen, or the state (including elderly care) will have to shrink instead.

Pick your poison. And, of course, every electorate is saying "NONE OF THE ABOVE". Okay ...

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