according to http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/background/numbers/international.cfm http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/background/numb...,

according to http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/background/numbers/international.cfm http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/background/numb..., the US has one of the lowest tax rates, while scandinavian countries are all towards the high end of the list There is definitely an issue of how much money is distributed to welfare / infrastructure / education etc compared to military but the lower tax rate means there is less to spend to begin with (per capita at least)