High Taxes In US Do Not Explain Slow Growth And Low Taxes Contribute To Deficits

OECD provides data that shows tax revenues as a percent of national income and the US is clearly a low tax country. This article reports the data and it explains that it includes all tax revenues, including those collected by state and local government. That will help to defuse the critics who criticize OECD data by complaining about the state and local taxes that they also pay. Two conclusions follow from these data. High taxes do not explain slow economic growth in the US compared to other countries. Moreover, the data show that our recurrent budget deficits are partially explained by low tax revenues.