In France, Atlas is shrugging
December 23, 2012 at 11:37 am in News by Dustin Siggins 13 Comments
Via The Telegraph, the predictable consequences of taxing the productively wealthy:
Asterix and Obelix have deserted Gaul. Or at least the two actors who played them in three blockbuster movies have. With Gérard “Obelix” Depardieu’s much-trumpeted exile to Belgium last week, following Christian “Asterix” Clavier’s move to London in October, France has lost her best-known fictional heroes, undefeated by Julius Caesar’s legions, but vanquished by François Hollande’s punitive new 75 per cent top marginal income tax rate, recently hiked capital gains tax, and reinforced wealth tax.
Oddly, or perhaps not so oddly, the French people are supporting Depardieu:
When Jean-Marc Ayrault, France’s prime minister, contemptuously called him “a pathetic loser”, Depardieu shot back with an open letter published on Sunday. “I was born in 1948,” he wrote, “I started working aged 14, as a printer, as a warehouseman, then as an actor, and I’ve always paid my taxes.” Over 45 years, Depardieu said, he had paid 145 million euros in tax, and to this day employs 80 people. Last year he paid taxes amounting to 85 per cent of his income. “I am neither worthy of pity nor admirable, but I shall not be called ‘pathetic’,” he concluded, saying that he was sending back his French passport.
For a few hours, the government spin doctors thought the French, whose deep mistrust of money is rooted in a dual heritage of Catholicism and unreconstructed Marxism, would join in the public shaming. It did not happen. An online poll conducted by the popular Le Parisien tabloid showed almost 70 per cent supporting the country’s wayward son and poster boy for glorious political incorrectness.
This move by Depardieu is not limited to the extreme wealthy or the French. It’s happening in a number of American states, most prominently in California:
The Census Bureau reports that the most common state to state moves in 2011 were New York to Florida (59,288), California to Texas (58,992) and California to Arizona (49,635).
Notably, the Census Bureau data shows that job-related factors such as a new job or transfer were most commonly cited reason for moving among the top two income categories ($85,000 to $99,999 and $100,000 and above).
A comprehensive recent study of a two-decades long exodus from California conducted by the Manhattan Institute made the link between migration and the tax and jobs climate of California explicit, saying:
“The data … reveal the motives that drive individuals and businesses to leave California. One of these, of course, is work. States with low unemployment rates, such as Texas, are drawing people from California, whose rate is above the national average. Taxation also appears to be a factor, especially as it contributes to the business climate and, in turn, jobs. Most of the destination states favored by Californians have lower taxes. States that have gained the most at California’s expense are rated as having better business climates. The data suggest that many cost drivers–taxes, regulations, the high price of housing and commercial real estate, costly electricity, union power, and high labor costs–are prompting businesses to locate outside California, thus helping to drive the exodus.”
As Margaret Thatcher famously said, “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.” This is especially true if the most productive citizens of a town, state, or nation take steps to reduce the amount of money you take from them.
Surprise, Surprise, ala Gomer Pyle.
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=surprise surprise gomer pyle&fr=mcsaoffblock
I have noticed that most high income earners share some or all of the following personality traits. They’re smart, exercise self discipline, know how to sacrifice and have compassion for those in need. So I ask myself; how smart is it to fund governments lacking in self discipline? How compassionate is it to give the less fortunate among us an existence in the lifelong underclass known as Uncle Sam’s Plantation?
http://unclesamsplantation.com/
“Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal”.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Let this be notice America! The job creators will move out of the country if the liberal socialist keep raising their taxes. They will then create jobs in other countries turning us into France or Greece.
Only the Tea Party can save America from the deadbeat moocher liberals.
Hellfire,
If that happened the Socialists would probably just import job creators from India or China. With no job creators here to compete with they would have the place to themselves
Since there are now 17 countries that rate higher than the U.S. in terms of economic freedom, I’d guess the flight of our productive people is already underway.
Craig, America is still the #1 economy. We are the best bet in the eyes of many investors all over the World.
Yes Mr. Fire, we are still the world’s largest economy, but, as our economy grows ever less free, that will change. And unless we act soon to stop the out of control spending and the out of control creation of “money”, it will soon be a very much smaller economy, even if still the world’s largest.
Perhaps “progressive” one world government will be able to distribute poverty equally everywhere in the world?
Hellfire,
Depends on how you mean. Manufacturing, no that’s been dying here since the 1950′s. China is now #1 as Japan was before it. If you mean high tech or inovation in a dozen fields, yes we are number 1
Jerry, most of the low skill manufacturing jobs are gone forever. We can never compete with Chinese workers because Americans will not work for $2 a hour with no benefits.
We need to re-educate our workforce in high tech manufacturing. I work for a big defense contractor and as our older people retire we don’t have qualified people to replace them. We don’t have enough people in studying science and engineering. My company is looking to bring in engineers from China and India which is sad considering so many need work.
Craig,
The US is in bad shape. In addition to the stats you cite, We are 27th in education, 33rd in life expectancy but number 1 in cocaine use at least.
Jerry, I wonder what the numbers would be like if we got rid of all the illegals bringing down our average.
Hellfire,
I bet the children of illegal immigrants do, on average, better in school than native born citizens.
Jerry,
It’s the expected result of 100 years of “progressive” policies.
Of course “progressives” will say it just shows we need to be more “progressive”- give them total power!
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