Give Bill Gates a trillion dollars though and there's zero tax revenue on that.
Obviously I'm not advocating giving $1T to Bill Gates, but this is a fundamental misunderstanding that gets repeated over and over again. Rich people do not keep their money under their mattresses. Much of it they keep in a variety of financial instruments, most commonly stocks and bonds. Sale of stock is how many companies finance their operations, which includes, among other things, hiring people who pay taxes. Bonds are how corporations and governments fund things like building factories, roads and schools.
Even if Bill just kept it in the bank, the bank now has more money to lend at easier terms to businesses needing capital.
There is a serious economic study and debate about how much of a "multiplier" effect you get from handing money to a poor person vs. to a rich person. It wouldn't surprise me if it were higher for the poor person, but it's surely not 0 for the rich person.
Obviously I'm not advocating giving $1T to Bill Gates, but this is a fundamental misunderstanding that gets repeated over and over again. Rich people do not keep their money under their mattresses. Much of it they keep in a variety of financial instruments, most commonly stocks and bonds. Sale of stock is how many companies finance their operations, which includes, among other things, hiring people who pay taxes. Bonds are how corporations and governments fund things like building factories, roads and schools.
Even if Bill just kept it in the bank, the bank now has more money to lend at easier terms to businesses needing capital.
There is a serious economic study and debate about how much of a "multiplier" effect you get from handing money to a poor person vs. to a rich person. It wouldn't surprise me if it were higher for the poor person, but it's surely not 0 for the rich person.