The Tax Story

 This is a rather simple story, and it has a thousand implications.

Once upon a time, NY state had a real income situation, with money flowing on a constant basis.  

Then at some point, going back to the 1980s probably....they extended themselves and got into debt.  Presently, if you counted everything up....it's nearly 350-billion total (NY City has the bulk of this).

The state needs more money, so the newest gimmick being discussed in the state capital is a tax on stock transfers.

Reaction by the New York Stock Exchange?  They sent a blunt letter to the state capital and said if you do this....we will leave the state.  What happens now?  

If you look around at commentary by the business community....they don't think that the state folks have the guts to go through with the tax.

But they generally point out three odd factors in this entire discussion:

1.  Maybe up until the 1980s, there was still 'industry' in the state and something to balance out things.  Well...there just isn't much made in NY state anymore.  

2.  It used to be a big deal for companies to have established headquarters in NY City, and openly brag that they were based there.  It's not that way anymore.

3.  Ever since spring of 2020....when Covid-19 arrived, folks in Manhattan (the movers and shakers of society/NY City)...have been leaving (not just the downtown region, but the state itself).  By the fall of 2020, it was generally figured that half-a-million people had left.  The expectation by the end of 2021?   If you count up that early group, the present group, and the rest or the year....it's probably going to be in the 1.2-million that left town.

The state, in simple terms....is screwed.

If they got real stupid and taxed the stock exchange folks?  It'd take less than one year for them to move.  They've likely already completed a survey of best places to move.  The sites are probably either in Florida or Texas.  

If they packed and left?  You could probably go and erase at least another 200k residents from the city, and figure a hundred-odd businesses (from bars to restaurants) would shut down within six months as well.

But here's the thing....if you don't tax these folks, who are you going to tax?  There just aren't any 'golden cows' left on the farm (they all wandered away).