(10-27-2011, 06:58 PM)kandrathe Wrote:(10-27-2011, 06:33 PM)Jester Wrote: He didn't say tax rates. He said taxes.He said lowest. And, while 27% is low compared the the OECD average of 36%, we are not the lowest taxed western industrialized nation.
You are, unless you count Mexico and Chile as "western industrialized nations," which is more than a little dubious, given that they have less than half your GDP/capita. And even then, it's only barely. By any standard, US taxes are low.
Quote:And... we just happened to be in a spike downward due to the governments tax cuts (Bush, 2001, and Obama 2009) in an attempt to stimulate the economy.
These numbers are stable, historically. This is not an illusion, this is not a blip caused by 2009. US taxes are, overall, very low. And it's no use pointing to tax cuts as some kind of exceptional circumstance, because that's the whole point! Taxes are low. Keep cutting them, and they'll get even lower.
Quote:Per GDP, we are not that far off from Japan, South Korea, Australia, Canada. And, we are well above the 17% levels of India, and China. If the contest is for who has the biggest bureaucracy, then yes, by all means, Europe wins. I think what we are aiming for in the US, at least, is a high standard of living, and a competitive economy.
Set whatever policy goals you like. Maybe it's good to have low taxes. Maybe not. I'm only pointing out that you're wrong on the facts. Taxation in the US is either very low, or the absolute lowest, depending on who you count as "peers". Either way, you're wrong to say it is "Not even close to true" that the US has low taxes.
-Jester