The notion that raising taxes on high earners comes without economic consequences is one of those comfortable political myths that thrives in theory but collapses in practice. Politicians who imagine that wealthy individuals and the businesses they run will simply absorb new tax burdens indefinitely are ignoring both human nature and decades of migration data.
The wealthy are not immovable fixtures. They are mobile and their capital is mobile. When the balance tips too far against them they move to jurisdictions where the environment is friendlier. This is not an abstract prediction it is observable reality. You can look at IRS migration statistics and state revenue reports to see that income flight follows tax hikes in many high tax areas. The impact is not just on personal wealth either. When successful business owners leave they take their companies their jobs and their investment dollars with them.
The notion that raising taxes on high earners comes without economic consequences is one of those comfortable political myths that thrives in theory but collapses in practice. Politicians who imagine that wealthy individuals and the businesses they run will simply absorb new tax burdens indefinitely are ignoring both human nature and decades of migration data.
The wealthy are not immovable fixtures. They are mobile and their capital is mobile. When the balance tips too far against them they move to jurisdictions where the environment is friendlier. This is not an abstract prediction it is observable reality. You can look at IRS migration statistics and state revenue reports to see that income flight follows tax hikes in many high tax areas. The impact is not just on personal wealth either. When successful business owners leave they take their companies their jobs and their investment dollars with them.