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> The tax code is the worst possible way to do income redistribution, and the American obsession with trying leads to really poor outcomes. Northern Europe wou

> The tax code is the worst possible way to do income redistribution, and the American obsession with trying leads to really poor outcomes. Northern Europe would like to disagree, and to point out that Americans are far from obsessed with this. Take Mitt Romney: in 2012 he disclosed paying 15% taxes on his around $15 mill./year income. In a reasonable country he'd be paying at least 35%! Actual progressive taxation without loopholes, together with a properly implemented public health service, ending the health insurance industry, government-funded parental leave for the first year of a child's life, and otherwise socially responsible policies (ending the prison industry that disproportionally targets the poor and non-whites, ending the war on drugs etc) is a great way of doing income redistribution and society improvements.

deleted 10y ago
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Lazare 10y ago
> Northern Europe would like to disagree, and to point out that Americans are far from obsessed with this. Take Mitt Romney: in 2012 he disclosed paying 15% taxes on his around $15 mill./year income. In a reasonable country he'd be paying at least 35%! The overwhelming majority of Northern European countries have a lower top marginal tax rate than that that on dividends and capital gains. So apparently Sweden, France, Germany, Finland, Norway, etc. aren't "reasonable countries"?
rayiner 10y ago
There are exceptions like Romney, but they don't really add up to much. The US has a more progressive tax system than Western Europe: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/04/05/americas-taxes-are-the-most-progressive-in-the-world-its-government-is-among-the-least/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/04/05/ameri... The top 10% in the US pay a substantially larger share of taxes than their share of income. In Sweden they pay the same share of taxes as their share of income.

deleted 10y ago

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Lazare 10y ago

> Northern Europe would like to disagree, and to point out that Americans are far from obsessed with this. Take Mitt Romney: in 2012 he disclosed paying 15% taxes on his around $15 mill./year income. In a reasonable country he'd be paying at least 35%! The overwhelming majority of Northern European countries have a lower top marginal tax rate than that that on dividends and capital gains. So apparently Sweden, France, Germany, Finland, Norway, etc. aren't "reasonable countries"?

rayiner 10y ago

There are exceptions like Romney, but they don't really add up to much. The US has a more progressive tax system than Western Europe: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/04/05/americas-taxes-are-the-most-progressive-in-the-world-its-government-is-among-the-least/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/04/05/ameri... The top 10% in the US pay a substantially larger share of taxes than their share of income. In Sweden they pay the same share of taxes as their share of income.