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What's incredible is that Americans pay all these taxes, but get few of the benefits. The average UK citizen pays $617 more tax, but gets healthcare, and decent
by adnam 17y ago
What's incredible is that Americans pay all these taxes, but get few of the benefits. The average UK citizen pays $617 more tax, but gets healthcare, and decent public infrastructure (see ASCE's infrastructurereportcard.org). Also, US healthcare eats up 16% of GDP, compared to ~10% in the UK and ~12% in France (source: Economist).
- anamax 17y ago> Also, US healthcare eats up 16% of GDP, compared to ~10% in the UK and ~12% in France (source: Economist). Would you rather live in a country with $1M/person GDP that spends 50% on healthcare or one with $1K/person GDP that spends 5% on healthcare? Feel free to assume equal lifespans. I ask because that difference in healthcare spending is dwarfed by the difference in after-tax income. Also, the US spends a lot of money on things that those other countries don't, specifically obesity and "right before death" spending. The former can't be reduced with healthcare spending and the latter is a choice, albeit one that doesn't significantly affect lifespan. However, changing it is "treating grandma as shovel-ready".