If you are a U.S. citizen, imagine that when shares of Chinese companies became available in the U.S. that you managed to buy stocks in 20 Chinese companies. Five didn't do well and you sold them at a small loss, but 15 did quite well and a few are paying some nice dividends. Would you really care that much about the U.S. economy? The only thing about the U.S. economy you might care about is paying lower taxes.
This is precisely what many of the mega-rich are doing and thinking. As their investments become more global, they care less about investing in the U.S. Not just in stocks or expanding U.S. operations, but they could care even less about investing in U.S. infra-structure, including education.
They also complain about welfare, but they don't realize they are also on welfare. They complain about those who need assistance for food and shelter, but they ignore that they are getting assistance from the taxes paid by people in other countries. They don't need to pay for U.S. education because in China they can "hire 8,700 engineers in 15 days."
It is also amazing that many of them probably pay more in political contributions to support their agenda, including many diversionary tactics, than they would pay in taxes. And they are probably very happy to sow dissatisfaction among potential voters to further discourage voting.
For more on how the rich have subverted rational politics in the U.S., see "Why is the GOP Suddenly Turning Against College?", James Kwak, The Atlantic, 2012-02-12, via http://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-gop-suddenly-turning-against-145105656.html.
