Upper income taxpayers have become America's meal ticket. Federal, state, and even local governments are tapping taxpayers in the top brackets to fund a laundry list of projects and services . In 2007, the top 1% of tax returns paid 40.4% of all federal individual income taxes while earning only 22.8% of adjusted gross income.

There is growing evidence that this group is reacting to the fiscal equivalent of "overfishing."  Recent studies have pointed out that many high-net-worth individuals have fled high-tax states such as New York and California.

But few people would take such a drastic step simply to get a tax break, and the federal government would take its cut either way. So it is doubtful that these tax refugees concern Congress. What should worry Washington is how tax disincentives might disrupt the economy.   More 

When it comes to investing, people would probably pick greed as the most lethal of the Seven Deadly Sins. When there is euphoria or panic in the market, we know we are going to hear the old cliché that "investors are driven by greed and fear." When a Ponzi scheme is exposed or a financial services CEO gets a huge bonus, it's an even-money bet that some reporter will bring up the "greed is good" quote from Oliver Stone's "Wall Street." 

But there are other equally good candidates for the Deadliest Sin. Paul Wilmott in a recent interview with Bloomberg Radio said that he thought envy was the most dangerous of the seven sins:

Envy is a terrible thing. Anyone working this business sees people sitting next to them earning possibly many times what they are earning. And they want to have the same salaries, the same yachts, the same, eventually, private jets as other people.

Greed and envy are certainly the two clear contenders for the title. But in my opinion, the deadliest sin is far less obvious but much more insidious. It is pride.    More