Population: 37,500
Situation: Tiny Nation-State with No Money, No Natural Resources, and No Space.
Action: Created a wealth creating environment, built a casino for Paris, and Eliminated Income Taxes.
Result: Millionaires or wealthier flock their to keep their wealth from their respective governments and spend it on luxuries in Monaco.
According to the CIA, Monaco is the third richest country by GDP. It attracts the ultrawealthy because of it’s lack of income tax, unusual amenities, and luxurious lifestyle. Around 1860 the royal family was reinstated by France. The two towns Monaco had control over rebelled and declared independence leaving the Royal family to attend to .81 square miles to reign. They turn it into one of the wealthiest and most luxurious places in the world to live.
Charles the 3rd ruled at the time. It is said his mother, Princess Caroline came up with the idea. They would build a casino to bring in tax revenues, something that was illegal in neighboring (Surrounding) France. This is not unlike Las Vegas.
The first casino they created failed. They did not give up. They created a second casino, the famed Monte Carlo Casino. The casino was immediately successful and became increasingly so with Monaco’s rail connection to Paris. Railroads are always involved, except unlike Leavenworth, Washington, it helped the proud nation state of Monaco prosper ! They had so much revenue from the casino that they abolished income tax in 1869. This grabbed the attention of the wealthy.
The Monte Carlo Casino was so successful that the nationals/locals are not allowed to set foot inside a casino unless you work there. Foreign nationals, the wealthy that moved there, are still able to of course, you can’t exclude the millionaires. This makes up about 80% of the population.
The Monte Carlo Casino, the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo, the Opera de Monte-Carlo, and 55 other properties are owned by the Societe des Bains de Mer, or SBM. SBM is owned by the people, government, and royal family (House of Grimaldi) each own about ⅓ of SBM. This company is the number 1 reason why the country is so rich and the rich continue to not have to pay taxes which in turn keeps bringing in more money.
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⅓ of Monaco’s population are millionaires or richer but how do you do this? Zero income tax, music to the ultra wealthy ears. This allows them to spend their money on things they want to own or experience rather than taxed from them. Monaco makes this easy, 1 million euro watches sitting in display windows, Bugatti Veyrons sitting in showrooms, and of course, homes.
Homes in Monaco go for about $6,000 a square foot. This makes it the most expensive city in the world. To many millionaires this is worth it because of the future savings on income taxes. Any realtor would know, ultra wealthy competing for homes on a .81 square mile piece of land leads to high home prices.
Just to put this into perspective, a 1 million dollar home in Monaco is about 111 square feet.
How rich is Monaco. Well this is where the 1% live – 210 of the richest residents have a combined 25 billion dollar net wealth. 4 individuals account for about 7.1 billion dollar net worth. Monaco’s GDP for example is about 6 billion.
Monaco’s GDP per capita is $185,000 which makes it the third richest in the world. This can be seen in the cars sold in Monaco – the average car was a smart car for practicality sake. After that the top-sellers being the Porsche Macan, the Range Rover Sport, and the Bentley Continental GT.
Almost no conversation on Monaco is complete without talking about Formula One racing. The Monaco Grand Prix is widely considered one of the most prestigious races in the world. The track is narrow with aggressive turns and elevation changes making it one of the toughest Formula One tracks in the world. Formula One driver – Nelson Piquet – compared the track to “riding a bicycle around your living room”
Not many countries or towns would even consider this but it has helped secure Monaco as a desirable place to visit along with, you know, the ultra luxurious lifestyle. It also helps secure two other races, Formula E and a lower class race also to be held on the streets of Monaco.
This could be a profitable creative city development concept for a town in the midwest (Somewhere naturally flat) like Alexandria, Minnesota. They already have a race track with racing culture but if they held a rally car race that went through part of the downtown, it would truly become a site to behold and people from miles around would come to visit. I am pointing at you Alexandria, Minnesota! I want it to be close enough for me to enjoy too!
The nation state did not have much to work with in terms of resources. It had no natural resources, very little wealth, and almost no land. Monaco used what it had, differences in laws, tourism from neighboring major city – Paris, and a pleasant climate to its advantage. Today, the independent nation state of Monaco has enriched it’s .81 square miles beyond belief with a casino, shrewd tax politics, and creative city developments. From it’s outrageous luxury to shrewd political background it is truly a town to emulate if at all possible!
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