Additional Monaco Observations - Taxes, Gun Control, and Social Chaos

It's been nice pretending to be part of the top one-tenth of one percent, but I return to reality tomorrow (as if Washington, DC, could be considered part of the real world).

Two concluding observations about Monaco. On the plus side, gun ownership is very easy. It seems everyone has at least one weapon. Not surprisingly, there is almost no crime (unlike England, where crime rates are skyrocketing because thugs know that people have been disarmed by a disgusting government).

On the minus side, Monaco does have a payroll tax, which finances things such as health care. And it's a steep one, requiring about 35 percent from employers and somewhere about 10 percent for workers (it all comes out of workers' wages, of course, but that's an issue for another day). The only positive things to say about this punitive tax is that it only applies to about the first $40,000 of income, so it can be considered a very inefficient user fee for a set of (probably substandard) government services rather than a vehicle for redistributionism.

So while Monaco is a very attractive jurisdiction for many reasons, it ranks below Cayman in the Dan Mitchell ranking of ideal tax regimes.

One final point. It is astounding how many of Monaco's tax refugees fully expect social chaos to seize Europe sometime in the next 5-15 years as nations experience Greek-style fiscal collapse. I think 15 years is more realistic, but my main reaction is anger that Bush and Obama have been pushing the U.S. in that direction.