[ricardobeat]

> For the sake of argument, think about businesses with razor thin margins like restaurants. In the presence of increased taxes, their margins significantly diminish, if not vanish, and it becomes increasingly unviable for the business to stay in business. Once they shutter their doors, the tax base and employment decreases.

That's a big assumption. As long as there is demand in a free market, they will stay in business and prices will adjust accordingly.

Or not, since they might get more business from all these people who now have a minimum income. Also consider that the trend is for operational costs to go down with continued automation of the whole production chain.

[brbsix]

The OP's point about certain businesses disappearing is valid. Just as an example, pizza parlors may disappear. Instead that demand will be satiated by highly efficient instant delivery services (with no storefront and almost no staff) or perhaps not at all. Do you see many elevator attendants lately?

Also to be clear, we're not talking about anything remotely like a free market.