Thursday, May 13, 2010

U.S. Taxes Are Low Cross-Nationally, Too

. Thursday, May 13, 2010



(click on image for bigger version)

A few days ago I posted on the recent report that U.S. tax receipts as a percentage of national income are at their lowest point in the past 60 years, although the reason why isn't perfectly clear. I also suggested that this fact may surprise many Americans. Surely this OECD report, showing that the U.S. also has one of the lowest tax burdens among advanced industrialized countries, would be more expected.

I don't have much to add to this, except to note that this gives the U.S. room to move in coming decades. We can afford to raise taxes if needed to balance the budget, pay down debt, or finance welfare programs as the country continues to age. Perhaps that is one reason why U.S. sovereign debt is still so affordable. However, this also may indicate that the country does not have the political will to accept higher taxation in order to finance debt and a larger welfare state.

0 comments:

U.S. Taxes Are Low Cross-Nationally, Too
 

PageRank

SiteMeter

Technorati

Add to Technorati Favorites