Those progressive European democracies all have VATs. Of the top 20 economies in the world, the US is the only one without a VAT. This doesn't mean it's a good

Those progressive European democracies all have VATs. Of the top 20 economies in the world, the US is the only one without a VAT. This doesn't mean it's a good idea, or a bad idea, but very progressive places have used them without the world ending. It's probably a good way to keep spending in check, because it makes it a lot harder to jack up someone else's taxes to pay for your stuff. (And while they do tax their rich more than America taxes its rich, the shape of the slope is nowhere what you would imagine. It's very rare for any marginal rate to get over 50%.)