3 ms·

You're trading programs for taxes. All those free benefits of society have to get money from somewhere.

• acdha 4y ago
  It’s more that we shift where things are taxed (lower sales taxes are made up for with higher property taxes, etc.). Americans pay similar amounts to Europeans when you look at taxes + health insurance but we get less because of politically-mandated inefficiency.
  • junofan 4y ago
    Source for similar amounts? Median disposable income is way higher in the US.
    • acdha 4y ago
      It depends on what you’re measuring and especially what income levels but https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/04/the-myth-of-low-tax-america-why-americans-arent-getting-their-moneys-worth/274945/ https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/04/the-myt... gives you the general idea of what to look for. In general, Americans pay less in total taxes but we give that back with much greater expenses for things like healthcare & drug costs, retirement, education, etc. At the top end that works out in your favor but there’s no equivalent for things like our rates of medical bankruptcy for everyone below the highest income levels.
• weberer 4y ago
  But the USA is #10 in the world in welfare spending per capita. Even beating out a few countries commonly called "welfare states" like the UK. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_social_welfare_spending#Per_capita https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_social_we...