Rich Man, Poor Man, And The Departure Of Gerard Depardieu
A quote from the interesting Lauren Collins New Yorker story on Depardieu's "decision to establish residency in Néchin, a Belgian village of two thousand souls, and nearly as many beet fields, in order to escape a seventy-five-per-cent tax that the French government had promised to impose on income exceeding a million euros":
Americans insist that the poor do better; the French insist that the rich do worse.
The French approach really works -- if you can put impenetrable steel walls around every border.
"The French approach really works -- if you can put impenetrable steel walls around every border."
If memory serves, they tried that already...
Cousin Dave at February 19, 2013 7:02 AM
Lord knows they've tried.
Crid [CridComment at gmail] at February 19, 2013 7:33 AM
You should have Christopher Boehm (Hierarchy in the Forest)on your show to discuss the evolutionary origins of egalitarian vs individualistic instincts and why we have both.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1U1sJf0ad0
Libertarians are rightly concerned with free riders, but Boehm says bullies are perhaps the most dangerous free riders endangering social cohesion - often people who do produce more than others, but expect rewards way beyond that extra production. IN Hunter-gatherer cultures, bullies are quite often stronger, better hunters, more productive, but think that should translate into outsized power. He says most small-scale societies will tolerate a lazy unproductive member before they will tolerate a bullying alpha usurper (for good functional reasons).
Brian at February 19, 2013 12:42 PM
What I don't get is why he became a Russian.
NicoleK at February 19, 2013 11:20 PM
Because the Russian income tax is at the rate of 13% for an individual on most income. (non-residents 30%). And there are some pleasurable places, cheap, to live in Russia if he wants to spend 183 days there.
Jim P. at February 20, 2013 11:27 AM
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