In an upper-class suburb of Sydney, in 1972, Elizabeth Hunter (Charlotte Rampling), an intelligent, vicious, rich old woman, very ill but never without awareness of her power, wills herself not to die.

NEWYORKER: The Eye of the Storm

However, this is one reason that depending on the rich to finance government is so ill-advised: Progressive tax rates create mountains of cash during good times that vanish during recessions.

WSJ: Millionaires Go Missing

There, she tends to her ill father and observes her sisters' hunt for rich husbands.

WSJ: Pages From Jane Austen's The Watsons at Sotheby's | Backstory

But many states (mostly poor and ill-run) resist the trend and some rich democracies like the Netherlands and Germany are trying to curb it (see article), offering a variety of excuses.

ECONOMIST: Citizenship

He recently learned that before his own ill-starred purchase the seller told his staff that the new boss was rich, and that they should save up their grievances until the deal went through.

ECONOMIST: Brazil's labour laws

One reason is that pecking orders matter more than in most other rich countries: income distribution is very unequal and the unemployed, disaffected, ill-educated rump is comparatively large.

ECONOMIST: Public health

Under pressure from rich countries, the legislature this week passed two laws that make money-laundering illegal for all ill-gotten loot, not just that of drug-smugglers.

ECONOMIST: Colombia and its neighbours