
The US Is the Lowest Taxed Large Developed Economy in the World - Four_Star
http://thesoundingline.com/taps-coogan-the-us-is-the-lowest-taxed-large-developed-economy-in-the-world/
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zacharytelschow
Government spending, not taxes, are the proper measure of the burden of
government. Ultimately, the debts will have to be paid whether that be
outright, through devaluation of the currency, or a combination of both.

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User23
No they don't. A monetarily sovereign government with a productive economy,
such as the USA, can roll over its debt indefinitely. In fact, the global
financial system relies on US debt. Foreign countries call it "reserves."

Also, remember that the size of the public sector's balance sheet isn't what
controls inflation, it's too much money chasing too few goods and services.
Most money isn't even created by the government, it's created by banks with
keystrokes.

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cjlars
This idea that debts don't need to paid because they can be rolled over is
pretty absurd.

It's true that aggregate debt never need go to zero, but all debt has a
carrying cost. Current debt expense is $310BN annually for the federal
government [1], and likely going higher. A high amount of debt is very
dangerous because the carrying costs could easily rise for reasons beyond our
control. In fact carry costs were 4.7% merely ten years ago, vs 2.7% today. If
high interest rates return, high debt countries are definitely facing a budget
squeeze.

[1] [https://www.thebalance.com/interest-on-the-national-
debt-411...](https://www.thebalance.com/interest-on-the-national-debt-4119024)

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User23
Interest on federal debt owned by the US private sector is fiscal stimulus,
because it is net expansive for private balance sheets. Likewise, when the
federal reserve holds treasuries and remits the interest back to the treasury
it’s draining reserves from the economy.

While out of control high interest rates have serious drawbacks, there are
definitely solid arguments that rewarding savers with a higher safe return
than the current 0.5-2% available now will benefit the people.

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sremani
Couple of observations,

\- most of the countries are in the band of 25% to 30% and its just happens US
is a the lower one in that band, so there is no "daylight" per se.

\- Greece is around 38-39% and is notorious for tax evasion.

The graph demonstrates American is low, but not completely out of whack.. now
France.. well they are French!

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ThJ
Earlier today, I made a little scatter plot comparing the tax burden (tax
revenue to GDP ratio) of a bunch of countries against their UN World Happiness
Index. This is the result:

[https://snabeltann.no/system/media_attachments/files/000/429...](https://snabeltann.no/system/media_attachments/files/000/429/904/original/80a9d0c9fbaa8be7.png)

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amaccuish
I'd rather have cheap healthcare thanks

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User23
I'd rather have an economy where healthcare, housing, and education are so
affordable that anyone with a high school diploma or better that is willing to
work can afford to cover a family of 4 with money left over for entertainment
and savings.

We know this is possible, because the USA used to have it in living memory.

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humanrebar
To be fair, that was in the post war economy. The U.S. had a massive
competitive advantage in having a not-bombed infrastructure. Young workers had
a competitive advantage in not having to compete with people who died in the
war.

And there was a baby boom and a more economically engaged female population,
creating new kinds of demands and opportunities for productivity.

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TomK32
Well, Germany had the advantage of having to build a 100% new infrastructure
and that helped a lot to overtake those European countries that were on the
winning side.

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toomuchtodo
It seems like there’s a dark joke to be had here about US infrastructure.

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koliber
When I compare my tax burden in one country vs. what I would be paying had I
been living in another country, I would not use the measure of "Tax revenue as
share of GDP". This is the first time I came across such a way of defining the
total tax percentage.

Is this include corporate income tax, capital gains tax, personal income tax,
social-security payments rolled into one? If so, then it makes sense, as the
US has low corporate and cap gains taxes.

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HoochieKoo
I find it interesting that Ireland is the lowest taxed country yet they have
bet the farm on providing a haven for companies to avoid paying taxes back
home. It’s a gamble they’ve made which seems to paying off but I’ve heard that
if other countries closed this loophole they it would absolutely devestate the
Irish economy.

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test6554
I know it feels a little unfair to people of higher tax countries who feel
like they deserve certain services from their government and (at least the
majority) are willing to pay for those services through their taxes. But
another cost of these government services that they need to be aware of is
that it makes it more difficult to attract large multi-national employers to
the country. Large companies can choose which country they are taxed in just
like you and I can choose which market we shop at. If your preferred market
decides to raise prices while another decides to lower them, this would not be
considered a loophole. It would be considered business savvy or competition.

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moorhosj
==Large companies can choose which country they are taxed in just like you and
I can choose which market we shop at. If your preferred market decides to
raise prices while another decides to lower them, this would not be considered
a loophole. It would be considered business savvy or competition.==

To complete your market analogy, can you explain what "services" the country
provides the company?

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jklinger410
The promise that we will retain a healthy divide between the rich and poor is
one of the keys to global trade.

That and our hilariously large military.

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rs999gti
> That and our hilariously large military.

Due to treaties, the US protects one quarter of the world
-[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/05/30...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/05/30/map-
the-u-s-is-bound-by-treaties-to-defend-a-quarter-of-humanity/)

Also, provides defense to the world's oceans.

And employs millions as a massive jobs program -
[https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Robert-
Reich/2010/0813/Am...](https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Robert-
Reich/2010/0813/America-s-biggest-jobs-program-The-US-military)

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leereeves
I often wonder what would happen if the US lowers military spending to
European levels.

Will China invade Taiwan? North Korea invade the South? Russia invade Ukraine?

Who will take up the burden the US bears?

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mhkool
"Low Tax" sounds great. Everybody would want that. Just a pity that so few
people benefit from low tax.

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zacharytelschow
More than half the country doesn't pay federal income taxes at all. How is
that "so few?"

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moorhosj
Odd that you only mention federal income taxes, there are a bunch of other
taxes that people pay (payroll, sales, excise and property to name some).

