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March 04, 2007
Superb News!
Isn't this just so wonderfully excellent?
ONE in seven of Britain’s most affluent people plans to move abroad because of the high cost of living, excessive taxes and fear of terrorism, new research has found.
Some 350,000 people with investable assets such as cash and shares of more than £100,000 will form a new “wealth exodus” over the next decade, the study suggests.
The evidence indicating that the most well-off are becoming less attached to their country is contained in a report published tomorrow by Barclays bank and the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Polly will be happy. As the rich leave, then everyone will be more equal and little babies will no longer die.
For, as we know, inequality kills!
March 4, 2007 in Idiotarians | Permalink
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» Cause and Effect from Infoholic UK
Via Tim Worstall, the first signs that the wealth generators are preparing to scarper. [Read More]
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» Cause and Effect from Infoholic UK
Via Tim Worstall, the first signs that the wealth generators are preparing to scarper. [Read More]
Tracked on Mar 4, 2007 11:02:10 PM
» The shame of it! from Stephen Pollard
Tim Wostall is a wonderful source of bracing sense. Here, he destroys a silly piece by Tristam Hunt: At the heart of this immense darkness was the City: from the great finance houses of the Rothschilds and Barings to the... [Read More]
Tracked on Mar 5, 2007 8:29:51 AM
Comments
Listen, I only voted Labour because Elton John said he'd emigrate. Please don't tempt me further. These people always promise to go and never do. And there's no mention of the Abramovitch's of this world coming in with their investible assets.
Posted by: let_them_go | Mar 4, 2007 10:16:45 AM
Tim, this is a silly post (and article). An opinion poll last year found that 13% of all people in the country were planning to emigrate in the 'near future' (ie exactly the same percentage as those with assets of over £100,000).
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5237236.stm
I think you're in London at the moment. Have a look in the local newspaper and decide whether you think the house prices are reflecting a max exodus of the "most well off".
Posted by: Matthew | Mar 4, 2007 10:27:28 AM
Good riddance to bad rubbish.
If Anatole Kaletsky, Niall Ferguson and the management board of the Globalisation Institute are amongst them, I'll even come down to Heathrow to wave them off...
Posted by: Martin | Mar 4, 2007 11:13:25 AM
Emigration for fiscal reasons isn't all it's cracked up to be. You don't want to emigrate to Canada (5 year waiting times for residence visas and a horrendous tax burden that makes Bruun look like Thatcher). And the US? Ha! Higher marginal income tax rates than the UK, punitive double-tax on dividends, and less generous capital gains tax.
Posted by: Kay Tie | Mar 4, 2007 1:06:23 PM
If "fear of terrorism" is up there as a reason for moving may I suggest that this is merely the equivalent of OAPs threatening to go on the rampage if pensions aren't increased - empty threats.
Where exactly are they going to go to find less terrorism - certainly not Spain?
Posted by: Neil Craig | Mar 4, 2007 2:34:50 PM
I know lots of contemporaries and a little younger who are making plans to leave. The high taxes and increasingly repressive society are just getting to them.
". And the US? Ha! Higher marginal income tax rates than the UK, punitive double-tax on dividends, and less generous capital gains tax."
How do you figure that? Taxes as percentage of income are far higher in the UK than in the US. (Granted they are too high in the US in some states like Maine, that is for sure.) But saying taxes are worse in the US is just well daft and untrue.
Posted by: Andrew Ian Dodge | Mar 4, 2007 3:07:47 PM
Top rate of Federal income tax = 35%. California State Income Tax top rate = 9.3%. Does that exceed 41%? No.
Dividends are double taxed (compare with the UK where dividends are taxed at a top rate of 18%).
Long term capital gains are 15% compared to 10% in the UK. And these are special rate due to go back up again.
Stealth taxes? Sure, we're taxed to Hell by Bruun there. But the US has its (unfair) share. Ever stayed in a hotel and wondered why the $99/night rate ended up at $146.75?
Looks to me like you believe the long-standing urban legend that the US has low taxes. Maybe for some people, but the top rates are highly punitive. And US citizens don't get the opportunity to escape taxes by emigrating: Uncle Sam demands you pay US taxes regardless of residence.
Posted by: Kay Tie | Mar 4, 2007 7:17:39 PM
I thought one of Tim's arguments for a flat tax was usually that the rich in the Britain currently don't pay any, or hardly any, tax at all...
Tim adds: I normally deploy that argument on inhreitance tax: where it's actually true.
Posted by: Matthew | Mar 5, 2007 7:47:05 AM
The grass is always greener............
Posted by: Jeremy Jacobs | Mar 6, 2007 12:27:08 AM
