There's actually a formal economics model for this. Charles Tiebout published it in 1956 -- the idea that when people can freely move between jurisdictions, they "vote with their feet" and that pressure forces local governments to compete on public goods. It was considered mostly theoretical for decades because the friction of moving was so high. Selling property, converting currencies, transferring retirement accounts, finding new banking relationships. All of that friction subsidized bad governance.
Bitcoin changes the Tiebout model from theory to practice. If your wealth isn't trapped in a local banking system or denominated in the currency your government prints, the cost of exit drops by an order of magnitude. You don't need to wire money through correspondent banks that might freeze the transfer. You don't lose 3-8% on forex conversion. Your savings don't get devalued by the country you're leaving as a parting gift.
The 34% increase in Canadian emigration and 60% in Sweden isn't surprising when you realize both countries dramatically increased capital gains taxes in the same period. The Tiebout prediction is that the jurisdictions with the lightest touch on mobile capital win the sorting game. Paraguay's 0% capital gains tax on foreign income isn't an accident, it's a bid.
There's actually a formal economics model for this. Charles Tiebout published it in 1956 -- the idea that when people can freely move between jurisdictions, they "vote with their feet" and that pressure forces local governments to compete on public goods. It was considered mostly theoretical for decades because the friction of moving was so high. Selling property, converting currencies, transferring retirement accounts, finding new banking relationships. All of that friction subsidized bad governance.
Bitcoin changes the Tiebout model from theory to practice. If your wealth isn't trapped in a local banking system or denominated in the currency your government prints, the cost of exit drops by an order of magnitude. You don't need to wire money through correspondent banks that might freeze the transfer. You don't lose 3-8% on forex conversion. Your savings don't get devalued by the country you're leaving as a parting gift.
The 34% increase in Canadian emigration and 60% in Sweden isn't surprising when you realize both countries dramatically increased capital gains taxes in the same period. The Tiebout prediction is that the jurisdictions with the lightest touch on mobile capital win the sorting game. Paraguay's 0% capital gains tax on foreign income isn't an accident, it's a bid.