INSIGHTS
JAN
29
COSTA’S CORNER
Let me tell you how it will be. There’s one for you, nineteen for me

Thank you to George Harrison for one of the Beatles earliest protest songs.
At the time, The Beatles were one of the top grossing acts in the World and yet they were seeing little of this newfound success. The Labour government of Harold Wilson, in the mid ‘60’s, had instituted a Super Tax for the very wealthy. That tax amounted to roughly 90% of earned income in Britain.
During the mid to late ‘60’s many of Britain’s wealthiest people left and became tax exiles. Leaving for France, Monaco, Gibraltar and the United States.
The point of this mini history lesson is that we may be seeing something similar in the United States. Elizabeth Warren (presidential candidate numer34?) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have been floating the idea of increasing the taxes on the super wealthy. Warren’s tax plan would potentially increase taxes on the super wealthy to around 57% and Ocasio-Cortez’s plan could eventually raise the tax rate to somewhere in the 65-70% tax rate.
The vast majority of people probably could care less what a super wealthy person is paying. Most Americans feel that, with loopholes, the rich keep getting richer while the middle-class, in the end, still foots the bill.
To some extent, that is true ,but I think it’s important to remember that a vast majority of the wealthy in this country started from more humble beginnings.
I am not talking about the Walton family fortune, which by the way, if you Google Sam Walton, you will see he was the humblest of men.
I am talking about the man or woman that has an idea and works 100-hour weeks to make that idea a reality and it becomes successful. There are countless stories of people becoming successful and creating jobs and opportunities for others to share in their success. It really is what this country was founded on.
While taxes are necessary to have a functioning, thriving society, there is a point where those taxes become onerous and stifle innovation and creativity. The very proof of this can be found in every high tax state in the US. These high tax states may provide some benefits for the less fortunate, with generous social services, they hinder growth of small businesses almost to the point of making it much more of a financial risk in those states to open a business than in a low tax environment.
This will hold true on a national level as well. When the result of success is higher taxes, risk taking and creativity are stymied and the last thing this country needs, with Global competition, is putting a wet blanket over what made us exceptional in the first place, innovation.

As with every one of my columns, feel free to contact me and share your opinion.
I value those opinions and will do my best to answer as many emails as I can.
PC@Peterpcosta.com

My allocation, like the Midwest, is frozen.

25% Stocks
50% Fixed Income
25% Cash