I’ll bet on more limits on the ability to redistribute wealth than the new mayor expects.
While Google doesn’t have it recorded, roughly 15 years ago, Ed Glaeser, Jordan Rappaport and I wrote a paper titled “Redistribution in Cities”. With the election of the new progressive mayor of NYC, this paper merits a second look. Using data from the Census of Governments, we studied the determinants of which cities spend the most on health, and welfare. A New York City version of the paper is published here. Our work focused on the simple idea of product differentiation and substitutes. A progressive mayor can redistribute if the tax base can’t flee. Are there other cities in the United States that are “close substitutes” in the minds of the 1% for New York City? If Woody Allen and Mia and “their” son are willing to move to Philly, then Mayor De Blasio won’t be able to raise taxes much without learning about the Laffer Curve. If NYC is a monopolist then he will be able to tax his golden goose without experience a revenue drop.
Redistribution in Cities: The Case of Mayor De Blasio
Matthew Kahn
Wed, 06 Nov 2013 05:49:00 GMT
Virginia governor’s race was close than expected.
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