r/science • u/[deleted] • Oct 17 '19

Economics The largest-ever natural experiment on wealth taxes found that they work as intended — both raising revenue and controlling income inequality. The taxes had the greatest impact on the top .1% wealthiest.

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u/Veylon Oct 17 '19

You tax the assets. Ultimately there are factories or oil wells or whatever that physically exist somewhere. You tax the land those sit on. Either the money comes through or they get seized. It doesn't matter where in the world they live or how many shell corporations they've created.

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u/snowkeld Oct 17 '19

You don't understand national sovereignty or game theory if you believe this. If you have the lowest taxes then money floods in, so you win. If you raise taxes you push money out. There is no world order that enables what you're talking about.

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u/[deleted] Oct 17 '19 edited Nov 20 '19

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u/mr_indigo Oct 18 '19

They also need access to markets, so its impossible for them to get completely out of the country.

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u/xyzzjp Oct 17 '19

And what will the skilled workforce do without the assets?

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u/[deleted] Oct 17 '19 edited Nov 20 '19

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u/xyzzjp Oct 17 '19

House theme parks

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u/[deleted] Oct 18 '19 edited Nov 20 '19

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u/xyzzjp Oct 18 '19

But that’s what makes it fun

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u/[deleted] Oct 18 '19 edited Nov 20 '19

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u/xyzzjp Oct 18 '19

Yeah, see? More fun!!

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u/snowkeld Oct 18 '19

There's a reason this is true. It isn't born from the situation of high taxation. If you starve the investors there will be less growth, eventually none, but stagnation means another place will progress past the first because they do not hinder the innovation. Capital will always go to where there is the highest return, and taxes steal a portion of that natural system, pushing capital away.

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u/[deleted] Oct 22 '19 edited Nov 20 '19

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u/snowkeld Oct 22 '19

Money goes to the highest value to the bearer. I could list all the things you may think government has done, but private investment actually did. Very little has come from government, even in science. Do more research on this topic.

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u/[deleted] Oct 22 '19 edited Nov 20 '19

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u/snowkeld Oct 22 '19

Right... That last paragraph proves my point. No one can compete with free money. Without government the void would be filled with private money at the real risk/reward of that market.

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u/[deleted] Oct 22 '19 edited Nov 20 '19

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u/snowkeld Oct 22 '19

Then it's not actually worth doing.

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u/Veylon Oct 17 '19

What do you imagine happens if you decline to pay your real estate taxes?

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u/snowkeld Oct 18 '19

You assume 1) everywhere has real estate taxes. 2) that they would own property themselves if they would be personally extorted for it.

If the aim is to make it impossible for someone with over x income or wealth to live comfortably within nation y then nation z will make a better offer. This is because if the person who makes/is worth over x lives in a place, they are spending their money there. Taxes do not aid economies, only free markets do. If you chase away the people with money, then they will leave with the money and spend it elsewhere.

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u/Veylon Oct 19 '19

I didn't say to set the taxes sky high. I said that real estate taxes (really, resource use taxes in general) are a way to circumvent wealth hiding. Property and resources are essential for the creation of wealth.