As for effects on the broader economy, that is a simpler matter. Every textbook used in every college public finance class recognizes two overriding principles of taxpayer behavior: (1) Higher tax rates exert a combination of positive and negative effects on economic behavior. And (2) the negative effects exceed the positive effects insofar as it is easy for taxpayers to avoid paying the higher taxes and insofar as the tax takes a bigger bite out of taxpayer income or buying power.