In another demonstration of the fact that money goes where it is treated best, Investment News points out an interesting tidbit from the Census Bureau:
The percentage of Americans who moved residences reached its lowest point last year in more than six decades, the Census Bureau said. Those who did transfer often relocated for employment reasons. Many moved to states with no individual income tax.
I added the bold. The biggest state-to-state migrations were from high-tax states to low-tax states, like California to Texas or New York to Florida. This suggests one reason why tax increases rarely provide the additional revenues that are forecast.
Relocations generally were way down, primarily because it is difficult to move if your house is underwater. Still, some savvy Americans moved to where the jobs were—or where the taxes weren’t. In some cases, not surprisingly, those two things are related.
Global assets compete for capital in the same way. Assets that have the potential to perform well pull capital toward them, across borders if necessary. In a competitive global economy, it might make sense to have core assets in a global macro strategy.
