Blanketing opinions that I'll probably regret soon.

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

I love when facts get in the way of a good argument.

I love fivethirtyeight.com. This guy actually uses facts and data to prove conservative bullshit wrong.

In a recent post, he shows that as a percent of GDP (the only way to properly measure anything in the US economy) the USA has one of the lowest tax revenues on the planet.

Of the OECD countries, there are 25 that have higher taxes than the USA and 4 that have lower taxes. So unless conservatives want to live in Mexico, Turkey or Korea, the US is the best place for taxes:



And taxes in the US have been basically the same since about 1950:



And make sure you take a look at 538's post on income distribution in the USA where he make the true point that:
"Dollar for dollar, America offers the most effective and efficient government on the planet, doing so for about 20 cents on the dollar nationally, 28 cents if you include state and local taxes."
I love when raw facts and data get in the way of a good argument.
Comments:
Most of the countries on the high end of that chart also have universal health care, (as does Mexico at the bottom of the list). When you add what my company and me pay for my health care to what I pay for taxes it comes out to just over 45%. I just got a big cut in benefits for the same price too!

Thanks for the link.
 
Say...Now that you mention it, these are light chains. The whiners are just pathetic.
 
With the snark out of the way, I'll ask: Wouldn't total spending be a more valid metric for determining "bang for the buck" instead of only tax revenue?

Also, in the U.S. state revenues are used to provide many of the "services" that are provided at the national level in other countries. If you go here and poke around with the settings, you'll discover that state spending as a percentage of GDP has risen from approximately three percent to nine percent "since about 1950." That isn't chump change. International comparisons without including state (and perhaps also local) spending are not all that valid.
 
Ignore that last sentence where I'd trod on my weenie. Thanx.
 
Your Right we do have the lowest taxes. Does that mean we need to raise it?
 
what a worthless tool you are.
 
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