Rich Chinese continue to flee China
cnbc.com
cnbc.com
I believe those restrictions won't work when goods and people could move across borders without problems.
There's ways around it. Suitcases full of cash (or gold) which you hope the customs officials won't notice, multiple trips to Hong Kong, junket trips (paying for credit at a casino in Macao, then "withdrawing" through a roulette table). There's probably other ways. Maybe cash in a shipping container?
On the flip side, people outside China want to move money in, and can't. So they get Chinese companies to fake export receipts, pay for the export (officially), then collect the cash from the Chinese company on the other side.
The simplest question to ask oneself is: "In what kind of environment would you like your kids to grow up?"
The rhetoric coming out of the government is exactly the same in both cases.
That is a big assumption. The Chinese government is very flawed, but you are wrong in assuming that they would define corruption in a completely arbitrary manner. They would most likely (as they have done already) make an example of the worst, most clear cut, cases.
The Chinese government hasn't generally cracked down because they were feeling virtuous, but because their hand was forced (corruption was revealed independently), and they feared social discontent more than they feared upsetting the gravy train.
It's certainly believable that they would sometimes use "corruption" as an excuse to persecute those they don't like for political and other reasons -- but they can't just ignore every case of true corruption, especially obvious ones, because they don't want to risk real public unrest.
You hear about "democratic socialism", which is a democratic government that implements socialist policies. China has the opposite: a communist government that implements capitalist policies. Considering the abject failure of 20th century Soviet-style communism, it's not a foregone conclusion that the Chinese will follow that example.
I read a book this summer about the Chinese Communist Party (http://www.amazon.com/The-Party-Secret-Chinas-Communist/dp/0...), and was rather surprised to find that the party exists outside of the Chinese legal system. So there's this entire apparatus that cannot, under Chinese law, be investigated, sued, or otherwise held accountable.
I think that it's somewhat inevitable that power without accountability will lead to massive corruption -- all the more so when you're dealing with a country as immense as China, which has accumulated such wealth in recent years.
I find it easy to believe that some wealthy Chinese, unsure of when the party (so to speak) will be over, and when they might be accused (rightfully or not) of corruption, just decide to leave.
Moving to a country that is advertised of the polar opposite of China is like watching an advertisement of KFC and decided that KFC is better than McD.
Kids: maybe I'm foolish, I want my kids to grow in China. The air is bad but they will respect their teacher and elders, they will be able to safely walk in any streets, they experience a fast changing and exciting environment, with friendly and welcoming neighbors, and maybe most importantly they will be well equipped mentally and culturally to understand the world all the kids of their generation will have to live in.
All of that is obviously weighting much more than air considerations.
I seriously doubt France will really miss them, since it's unlikely they paid much of the previous bracket in the first place, and they won't very well stop doing business there.
And they do, a lot of them.
I do not think France would miss them for the loss in tax income. But I think France should be more welcoming with successful people, and accept that in our world wealth is a marker of success.
Not quite true. "Beyond 500 000 euros in yearly revenue, the maximum tax rate on the revenue is 49 %. The 75 % tax bracket was censored by the Conseil constitutionnel, and is now paid by the companies." [1]
"And I question how many have actually left".
Apparently, it's no so clear.
"The idea that France is experiencing a massive tax exile is widespread in some political circles and sometimes covered in the press, but there are absolutely no tangible proof that such an exile is happening." [1]
[1] - http://decodeurs.blog.lemonde.fr/2014/01/06/the-fall-of-news...
You make it sound like China is some kind of eldorado whereas your country (France?) is crime ridden with a government that is expropriating his citizens.
If I was to be reincarnated randomly somewhere in China or Europe, I would choose Europe with no hesitation.
"The air is bad but they will respect their teacher and elders, they will be able to safely walk in any streets"
Personally, I think air quality is more of a concern than petty theft.
I think Japan, Europe and China are great in this regard, but U.S. is too violent for me.
As adults, yes. Also maybe as children, if they don't look Chinese and never wander away from the rich neighbourhoods.
The more-content less-joking answer to this question involves things like self-made entrepreneurs whose first dollar came from a $10 million dollar contract from a factory owned by the Chinese army which, totally freakish coincidence time, happens to be run by their dad.
The magic word for Googling about this is "princeling."
But with the air so toxic I don't blame them.
Of course if they are coming to the US, they best avoid the water.
Most of America's cities have an overly abundant supply of clean drinking water. Those that don't are almost always situated in a desert.
Anywhere there is gas mining, Hawaii, etc.
https://www.google.com/search?q=water+pollution+-virginia&tb...
Just because it doesn't make national news, doesn't mean something really bad isn't happening, there is a ton of gun violence in Chicago every week and the national news ignores is.
Consider - an acquaintance started a western car dealership which he ran successfully for years, then sold. Flush with lots more RMB than he had invested in USD, he simply created a quality building supply exporting company which sold Chinese building supplies (like marble) in USD to US customers, while purchasing them in country with his RMB. He also built his house with these building supplies. In a year or so, all of his RMB was used up, and that was that.
This was a relatively "small business" owner compared to the kinds of tycoons we're talking about in Russia and China. Replicated this on a larger scale would be trivial, even if there were rules about it.
As governments tighten their control, there are several "creative" ways of sending money abroad being created every day.
http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21594345...