California Is Chasing Wealth That Has Feet(progressandpoverty.substack.com)
progressandpoverty.substack.com
California Is Chasing Wealth That Has Feet
https://progressandpoverty.substack.com/p/california-is-chasing-wealth-that
https://progressandpoverty.substack.com/p/california-is-chasing-wealth-that
In every jurisdiction that has implemented a wealth tax, the wealthy did one thing nearly 100% of the time: *they stayed.*
Why? Because for the vast majority of them, their wealth came from private property, from revenue-generating capital. Only those industries which are 100% virtual and online - a purely electronic venture, with zero physical real-world assets - can just pack up and leave at virtually no cost.
And as any business owner knows, moving a brick-and-mortar business down the street is fiendishly expensive, and you are still keeping all your current employees. Moving it out of the region is exponentially more expensive because you need to train up an entire new work force and deal with depressed efficiencies and possibly negative revenue until they become experienced, which can easily take years.
So the vast majority of wealthy people will look at the math and realize that it costs far less to just pay the fucking tax.
Plus, what is the revenue difference between having no wealth tax and making someone leave because of a wealth tax? Simple! It’s $0. There is no downside from implementing a wealth tax, because anyone who leaves will have zero negative impact to that wealth tax. If they abandon their revenue-generating capital just to escape said tax, they open up a niche for another entrepreneur to step in and leverage that opportunity. Nothing of value was lost, and everything was gained.
And best of all: only the Parasite Class is taxed, on wealth that is almost 100% un-earned and parasitized off of working class labour. A good wealth tax will encourage them to reduce the taxes payable, and a great wealth tax will encourage them to leave the working class with more of the wealth that they produce, raising wages and enriching the entire community.