r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Discontitulated • 1d ago

Governments say they can't tax the super wealthy more because they'll just leave the country but has any first world country tried it in the last 50 years?

It would be interesting to see how raising taxes on the super wealthy actually affected a first world country's tax revenue and economy.

Are our first world economies really so fragile the rely on the super wealthy and their meager tax revenue?

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u/Tacoman404 1d ago

Yep. Norways energy industry is nationalized. Canada’s used to be and they’ve seen nothing but economic decline since it was denationalized.

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u/IShouldBeInCharge 1d ago

Someone needs to tell the fucking prices of the houses!

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u/Hkonz 23h ago

This is false. It’s not nationalized. Norway had a publicly owned oil company. It’s partly privatized. The government also has some direct investment in the oil business. But most of it is privately owned.

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u/Diligent-Ocelot888 1d ago

Nah - things were pretty good economically until around 10 years ago before present management moved in, hiked taxes on the “wealthy” (defined as those earning over $100k) and moved aggressively to shut down O&G production.

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u/Irontruth 1d ago

https://theconversation.com/under-both-trump-and-biden-harris-us-oil-and-gas-production-surged-to-record-highs-despite-very-different-energy-goals-236859

Oil and Gas production went up while Biden was in office. Conservatives sound so stupid when they insist on just making shit up.

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u/SnooRabbits6026 1d ago edited 1d ago

He’s talking about the Trudeau administration, aka Canada.

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u/Irontruth 1d ago

https://www.statista.com/statistics/264822/crude-oil-production-in-canada/

Oil and gas production has climbed in Canada for the past 10 years too. Need to try again?

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u/SnooRabbits6026 1d ago

I do enjoy that you’ve completely glossed over your mistake.

The GDP growth of Canada under Trudeau’s administration has stalled, in comparison to Canada’s historical trends and compared to the US. Why be obstinate?

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u/Irontruth 1d ago

He said oil and gas production went down.

Was that a correct statement, or incorrect?

Also, other than the covid lockdown era, Canada's GDP has been going up far more than it's been going down.

https://tradingeconomics.com/canada/gdp

You're clearly not worth any further time.

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u/Diligent-Ocelot888 1d ago

You clearly have a reading comprehension problem. I didn’t say it had gone down, I said they have been making aggressive moves to shut it down. See for example - carbon tax and the proposed emissions cap. Production projects have been abandoned because of the regulatory uncertainty and headwinds and the increase in production should have been much higher.

And yeah - nominal GDP has gone up - but this was largely because they opened the floodgates for immigrants who use more services and consume goods. Our per capita GDP has gone done and our productivity growth is stagnant relative to the US.

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u/GotThatPerroInMe 1d ago

Bro what are you talking about. Any income between $111k - $173k is taxed at the same rate it was in 2014, which is a 26% federal income tax.

Once you get to $173k - $245k (29% fed tax) and especially $245k+ (33%) that’s a fairly significant tax hike for sure but it’s absolutely not true that Trudeau fleeced folks who make between $100k - $150k (like me)

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u/Diligent-Ocelot888 1d ago

You’re forgetting that there were a lot of hidden tax hikes for even individuals under those levels - credits were eliminated and benefits slashed for families with dual incomes.

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u/Tazling 1d ago

but we have more billionaires! doesn't that mean our country is richer? /s/s/s