> They come at a great cost, in the form of high taxation, government debt, inflexibility, and inefficiency. That sounds great on paper, but I've become skepti

> They come at a great cost, in the form of high taxation, government debt, inflexibility, and inefficiency. That sounds great on paper, but I've become skeptical of the catchphrase. Total tax rates in the USA don't seem that much lower for individuals. Many charts of tax rates are based on taxes as a share of GDP which IMHO isn't useful. I just looked up the tax rates in German and California (both high economic centers). It seems Germany is about ~38% vs a total rate in California of ~33%. There are states in the US that don't have income tax like Wyoming, but overall the state income taxes are about ~6-8%. Top tax rates in California are higher than in Germany too. Also the US corporate tax is 35%, of course only for those corps that can't afford setting up tax shelters, like Google and Apple, etc. In the EU it's 15%, though the use taxes are higher vs sales taxes. So taxes are a bit lower in the US they don't seem significantly lower, especially in states with high economic output (and jobs) like California and New York. I'm not pro high taxes. For example I'm a fan of lowering the US corporate tax and closing the tax haven / Bermuda tax shenanigans. It does seem that the US takes almost as many taxes but provide less services and bang for the buck at the same time. 1: https://bvcocpas.com/how-the-united-states-tax-rates-compares-to-germany/ https://bvcocpas.com/how-the-united-states-tax-rates-compare...