sbeam wrote:
That's why a messy union of loosely federated states is preferable to a single
central government. State competition is sometimes bad for the environment
etc., but it has its benefits. If there was your 10% national sales tax
(which would, at least, be Constitutional, as opposed to the federal income
tax), we would have no choice but to sit and watch while 10 turned to 10.5,
then 11.... they might slow down around 30, which is what the total tax
share is now. Government tends to expand its monopoly just as any large
corporation does, through whatever means available to it.
Well, that may be good for corporations, but regular people usually don't
change their residence permanently just lower their tax burden. And what the
government is concerned, there are also those who vote them into office.
Just
look at the sales taxes charged in the EU. The lower end is around 18%.
Income taxes are higher in Europe as well. But in exchange they got streets
rather than a series of potholes and people have health insurance. You get
what you pay for and sometimes less.
Higher taxes do not correlate to better living standards, but free commerce
and rule of law do.
Then how come that the standard of living in Western Europe is better than in
the US?
Actually the EU is a similar entity to the one created in 1787 in
Philadelphia, designed only to regulate currency and commerce and ensure a
base level of human rights, but with an even weaker central government and no
common defense (so far). Tax collection, healthcare and potholes are still
administered by the member states. So we will see how it plays out long term,
since it seems Europeans are not getting much for their money except a
gigantic bureaucracy. It is standardization and freedom from tariffs that is
creating benefit.
Europeans get nice streets, working infrastructure, health care, and yes, a
big bureaucracy. But when I look at department like Homeland Security and the
paperwork one has to go through constantly being a legal resident the
magnitude of needless actions is about the same. In regards to pot holes, many
infrastructure projects within the EU get EU subsidies. Yes, the member states
administer these projects, but they are not the only ones paying for it. Why
else would places like Portugal have been so successful in the past twenty
years? And the US companies are the nemesis of standardization and the US is
one of the worst tariff offenders (with the EU up there). I don't know if you
meant it as a comparison, but if one compares US/EU they each end up being as bad.
And to come back around, the EU is very eager to get a piece of internet
commerce as well, and does in the case of any large corp in its jurisdiction.
If you sell a digital download to someone there you are supposed to collect
VAT and mail a check to Brussels.
http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2003/06/59167
That VAT is collected by the individual states and not set by the EU although
there are attempts to make the tax level even among states. So there is no
check mailed to Brussels. Besides tha european banks no longer use checks
since paper checks are insanely expensive and insecure. I have no idea why US
banks still deal with that crap.
Wow, another innocent developer question entirely derailed just due to my
doing. Sorry about that.
David
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