- 12 Oct 2022 12:03
#15250650
Many White English-speaking and Western European countries that have a lower percentage of non-white people than the United States have higher tax rates than the U.S., yet have similar overall per capita GDP to the U.S.
Question: Suppose the U.S. were to increase its tax rates to Western European levels. Would it still have the same high per capita GDP?
Suppose these other countries were to lower their tax rates to levels closer to that of the U.S. Could it be possible that might make their per capita GDP increase to become greater than the U.S.?
Or is it possible there is something structurally inherent that makes the U.S. different from these other high standard of living countries, that would cause U.S. per capita GDP to fall if they tried to increase taxes to Western European levels?
Some theorise that social pooling of resources works better when everyone in that social pool is more similar to each other.
The U.S. is of course much more "heterogenous" than many of these other countries, in so many ways, economically, racially, culturally, even regionally, ethnically, income levels.
Maybe higher tax rates result in less effective redistribution of income in societies where there is already less inherent inequality between different segments of society to begin with. That could be an important thought.
It's generally recognised that when tax rates get high, it results in a drain on efficiency/productivity in an economy. I think even the Left has to concede this at least in part, or at least partially in some way theoretically, even though they advocate higher taxes.
What if there is something else about these other countries that makes them inherently wealthier and so they can "afford" higher taxes in their economies?
Well, of course another big part of this equation is that the U.S. is taking the role of policing the world, and so has to allocate a larger share of their revenue to military and defense spending. If the U.S. were not there, these other countries might have to step up their military spending and would have less to spend on social programs.
Question: Suppose the U.S. were to increase its tax rates to Western European levels. Would it still have the same high per capita GDP?
Suppose these other countries were to lower their tax rates to levels closer to that of the U.S. Could it be possible that might make their per capita GDP increase to become greater than the U.S.?
Or is it possible there is something structurally inherent that makes the U.S. different from these other high standard of living countries, that would cause U.S. per capita GDP to fall if they tried to increase taxes to Western European levels?
Some theorise that social pooling of resources works better when everyone in that social pool is more similar to each other.
The U.S. is of course much more "heterogenous" than many of these other countries, in so many ways, economically, racially, culturally, even regionally, ethnically, income levels.
Maybe higher tax rates result in less effective redistribution of income in societies where there is already less inherent inequality between different segments of society to begin with. That could be an important thought.
It's generally recognised that when tax rates get high, it results in a drain on efficiency/productivity in an economy. I think even the Left has to concede this at least in part, or at least partially in some way theoretically, even though they advocate higher taxes.
What if there is something else about these other countries that makes them inherently wealthier and so they can "afford" higher taxes in their economies?
Well, of course another big part of this equation is that the U.S. is taking the role of policing the world, and so has to allocate a larger share of their revenue to military and defense spending. If the U.S. were not there, these other countries might have to step up their military spending and would have less to spend on social programs.
- By Negotiator
- By Pants-of-dog
- By Fasces
- By Rancid