Dear Editor,
Re: “A national wealth tax may be a timely idea,” Column, Richmond-News.com.
In Tracy Sherlock’s column advocating for a “wealth tax” — with a claim that it can generate billions of dollars to fund pharmacare, post-secondary tuition, non-market homes and public transit — she notes that a wealth tax is untested in Canada, could cause a mass exodus of rich people and could have unknown effects.
She goes on to say “… I think it might be worth the risk. Heck, it might even free up some much-needed housing for folks.”
Sure, let’s experiment with the economy and chase investors and their billions of dollars of capital out of the country and see how big a train wreck we can create for ourselves.
So where to start? So often the first idea to bring in more money is to tax the wealthy. It would be refreshing to see someone put on their thinking cap and see how we could 1) cut government costs 2) cut government red tape and 3) make it easier for entrepreneurs to invest capital to create more goods, services (including jobs) and the resulting additional tax revenue that would follow.
The following quote is from the economist Thomas Sowell as reported in the Daily Telegram: “When the state of Maryland raised its tax rate on people with incomes of a million dollars a year or more, the number of such people living in Maryland fell from nearly 8,000 to fewer than 6,000. Although it had been projected that the tax revenue collected from such people in Maryland would rise by $106 million, instead these revenues FELL by $257 million. There was a similar reaction in Oregon and in Britain. Rich people do not simply stand still to be sheared like sheep. They can either send their money somewhere else or they can leave themselves.”
Let’s work towards a robust, investor friendly economy that will strengthen our cities, provinces, country and citizens and do away with the idea that we can tax our way to prosperity!
Craig Franzen
RICHMOND
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