• BlackLaZoR@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    It is a thing, it just measures taxation in a different way.

    What you linked is measure of what is officially considered as tax

    Meanwhile spending to GDP measures every fee that state collected + deficit spending. That includes regular taxes, state run healthcare insurance, social security, deficit spending, fines, ect. You can find more about in under the term ‘Tax Freedom Day’

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Freedom_Day

    It’s much better measure of actual burden of state ‘tax’ collection on the society because it encompasses everything.

    • Matty Roses@lemmy.today
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      1 day ago

      Oh, I’m familiar with that term. It’s marketing nonsense brought to you by the same people that thought the Laffer Curve was not only real, but that the United States was on the right side of it.

      As even your article states, the argument against it is beyond simple, as the figure ignores what the taxes buy. And the exact point is that Europe, with slightly higher taxes, provides significantly more to its citizens for their taxes.

      How does it do that? Well, it’s pretty simple - it spends far less on expensive weapons systems (which as the Iran War has shown are overpriced failures at best), and less on things that go to corporate bottom lines, like private medical care.