The Tax Man Cometh

As Mark Twain said, "The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin."

Taxes on the "rich" are expected to increase at the national level, and some states have already attempted to tax the "rich," but still find themselves strapped for cash. No matter how much it's argued that the financial crisis was what made the millionaires "disappear" because they fell into lower income brackets, it still has to be acknowledged that there's also been some outmigration. Maybe Edwards & Mitchell will turn out to be right about a global tax revolution. WSJ articles already portend such signs to come. It appears that more U.S. citizens and green card holders are severing ties to the U.S. Doing this at least helps prevent or delay the tax man from finding your stashed cash overseas, whether it be in Switzerland or Hong Kong.

In fact, immigration has fallen in the wake of the recession, including for H1-B visa holders, which typically require a minimum of postsecondary education or an equivalent, so we're not just talking about low-skill labor. On top of that, though the birth rate among older women has increased, the overall birth rate has been declining, and this has also been associated with the recession. Some would argue that this is a good thing since there will be less people (both migrant and natural-born citizen) to compete for jobs. Well, that also means less people are around to provide the jobs.

But this is all just some scaremonger's rhetoric to alarm people about government burden, right?