Another Really Good Way Of Saying It

The McDuck myth is appealing: A greedy, selfish, short-sighted villain with a stockpile of (ill gotten) cash. Someone we can both blame and make pay for society's failures. Suction cash out of the Money Bin and fix the economy in a half hour (minus commercial breaks). It is natural to think like this: that's why Disney cartoons are written that way. But reality is not a children's show. Skimming off of the top from a billionaire means taking a piece of their stock. Taking a piece of their working machinery necessary to employ people and generate social wealth. But wait, you say, the billionaire doesn't pay taxes in stock, they pay them in dollars. And yes, you are right. They do pay in dollars. Considering how much money a billionaire has on hand (as we've just discussed), where do you think they get that money? From selling stock. And when we tax all of the billionaires, they all sell their stock at once. No other billionaires are waiting to buy. The price drops in order to get someone, anyone, to buy. No longer able to tap capital markets, the company may sell off its wealth-making equipment to pay its bills. People are fired.

This would be part of why I favor a less progressive tax system, too.