Last night I was reading the paper and came across an article that indicated a majority of people in the U.S. are in favor of taxing millionaires at 50%.  Wow, have we really become such a jealous country that we want to take half of what people earn.  While many have the attitude - so what they are rich, it makes you wonder who is going want to take the risk to start new ventures.  If you fail - sucks to be you.  If you succeed, we will take half.  (I am unsure whether than included state taxes, so maybe the total is more like 55-60%).

The great irony is that on the same page there was also an article about how New York is not receiving the money it expected from its new tax on millionaires.  It seems that at least some of the big earners have decided to move out of state and resettle where taxes are lower.   Many high income people already own second homes in other states so the switch will not be hard.   Look for the number of millionaires in Florida, Wyoming and Nevada to increase.

While gouging the other guy always sounds better, it comes at a cost.  One of the people they interviewed who had moved out of New York relocated her company to Florida.  Not only does New York not get her tax money anymore, it also lost a number of jobs that the people in Florida were more than happy to fill.

The same thing can happen on a global scale.  There is a reason that countries/states like the Bahamas, Monaco and others have a large number of very wealthy from other countries.   If you raise taxes to high, the golden goose will fly away.