I remember having such a discussion a few years ago.
Friend: The rich should be paying a lot more taxes.
Me: Really? How much should they pay? 20%? 40%? 50%? More?
Friend: Alot more. 50-60%.
Me: Ok, what do you do when those rich people pull their money and companies out of the country? 15-20% of say 10 billion dollars is a hell of a lot better than 40-50-60% of nothing. Which is what you get when they leave. Simple? Ya I know, but you get the idea.
The problem I have with socialists is that they always argue from an academic point of view and not from practical/history/experience. Discounting the mass death count from any form of collectivism governance for the moment:
2012 "French president Francois Hollande announced that all earnings above 1 million EUR were going to be taxed at a 75% tax rate. The policy was supposed to bring a windfall to the French coffers, and make the wealthiest citizens pay up. Just two years later in 2014, the tax was dropped after it had failed to deliver."
ANOTHER real world event that should have woken up the socialists that socialism sounds great but never works.
Basically, you're right, those rich just left France and pulled their wealth out of the country.
I remember having such a discussion a few years ago. Friend: The rich should be paying a lot more taxes. Me: Really? How much should they pay? 20%? 40%? 50%? More? Friend: Alot more. 50-60%. Me: Ok, what do you do when those rich people pull their money and companies out of the country? 15-20% of say 10 billion dollars is a hell of a lot better than 40-50-60% of nothing. Which is what you get when they leave. Simple? Ya I know, but you get the idea.
The problem I have with socialists is that they always argue from an academic point of view and not from practical/history/experience. Discounting the mass death count from any form of collectivism governance for the moment:
2012 "French president Francois Hollande announced that all earnings above 1 million EUR were going to be taxed at a 75% tax rate. The policy was supposed to bring a windfall to the French coffers, and make the wealthiest citizens pay up. Just two years later in 2014, the tax was dropped after it had failed to deliver."
ANOTHER real world event that should have woken up the socialists that socialism sounds great but never works.
Basically, you're right, those rich just left France and pulled their wealth out of the country.
EXCELLENT and useful point.