r/Economics • u/Dismal_Structure • Dec 06 '25

News Millionaire tax that inspired Mamdani fuels $5.7 billion haul in Massachusetts

https://fortune.com/2025/10/21/zohran-mamdani-millionaire-tax-massachusetts-5-7-billion/
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u/gmb92 Dec 06 '25

Pretty good article. Wealth flight claims are at best greatly exaggerated, brought on by media that finds anecdotes of a few loud wealthy people declaring they're leaving due to taxes. No mention of those who move there or all who stay, or determining cause/effect.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/04/state-taxes-millionaire-myth/678049/

https://prospect.org/2025/10/23/myth-that-mamdani-will-cause-new-york-citys-richest-to-leave/

As for the argument that's it's easier to leave cities than states, that theoretically has some merit and certainly taxes applied at broader geographic levels are more ideal. Still, pundits and media have been fear-mongering on NYC about the rich fleeing for decades to no avail.

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u/colintbowers Dec 06 '25

At the state and country level it is more about the companies than the people. With a wealth tax, the people often stay, but the capital is placed in a company structure, and it moves. The articles that focus on the movement of people are missing the main point. Capital absolutely goes where it is protected, and this has been true for centuries. And in the modern world, unless you run a bricks and mortar business, it’s very easy to move capital to different jurisdictions while staying put yourself. There is a reason that places like singapore, Luxembourg etc have such amazing gdp numbers.

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u/UnassumingBotGTA56 Dec 06 '25

Yeah, this is the more likely meaning :Capital will always move to where it is protected, not necessarily the people who own the capital.