Capital flight is a myth. Wealthy people do business in liberal cities because that’s where all the talent is. Liberal cities are where all the talent is because those places use taxes to improve the quality of life. Wealthy businesses do not attract talented workers; talented workers atteact wealthy businesses.
When NY fought against Amazon getting a sweetheart deal to build a warehouse, bootlickers came out of the woodwork to claim it was a great idea. That NY needed to offer Amazon tax breaks and grants because it would create jobs.
Progressives told Amazon to eat shit. Amazon has continued to beg to be allowed to do business in NY. They are negotiating with the current mayor Mamdani because it’s fuckin NYC, of course they wanna do business there.
This concern has been underscored by numerous academic studies. Most recently, an NBER working paper co-authored by Jakobsen, Kleven, Kolsrud, Landais, and Munoz finds that 1 one percentage-point increase in the top wealth tax rate in Sweden and Denmark leads to an outward migration of wealthy taxpayers by two percent. Other work in the American Economic Review by Moretti and Wilson documents that variation in jurisdictional taxes significantly influences the location of talent, suggesting that higher tax burdens lead individuals to relocate.
Has the concern been met by raising the exit tax to mythical levels? 90% over 100m or something. Is everyone OK with a couple people looting the country and fleeing with all the wealth? Doesn’t seem like a great legal process for the people at home.
Capital flight is a myth. Wealthy people do business in liberal cities because that’s where all the talent is. Liberal cities are where all the talent is because those places use taxes to improve the quality of life. Wealthy businesses do not attract talented workers; talented workers atteact wealthy businesses.
When NY fought against Amazon getting a sweetheart deal to build a warehouse, bootlickers came out of the woodwork to claim it was a great idea. That NY needed to offer Amazon tax breaks and grants because it would create jobs.
Progressives told Amazon to eat shit. Amazon has continued to beg to be allowed to do business in NY. They are negotiating with the current mayor Mamdani because it’s fuckin NYC, of course they wanna do business there.
It does occur, but it’s infrequent. Those doing it should be forced to take a further haircut.
From https://www.forbes.com/sites/nathangoldman/2025/11/14/can-a-5-wealth-tax-on-200-billionaires-save-or-sink-california/
This concern has been underscored by numerous academic studies. Most recently, an NBER working paper co-authored by Jakobsen, Kleven, Kolsrud, Landais, and Munoz finds that 1 one percentage-point increase in the top wealth tax rate in Sweden and Denmark leads to an outward migration of wealthy taxpayers by two percent. Other work in the American Economic Review by Moretti and Wilson documents that variation in jurisdictional taxes significantly influences the location of talent, suggesting that higher tax burdens lead individuals to relocate.
Has the concern been met by raising the exit tax to mythical levels? 90% over 100m or something. Is everyone OK with a couple people looting the country and fleeing with all the wealth? Doesn’t seem like a great legal process for the people at home.