well...duh! eat the rich..i mean tax, tax the rich

[Guest guest]

December 6, 2006

New from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

Today the CCPA released The Social Benefits and Economic Costs of

Taxation: A Comparison of High- and Low-Tax Countries by Neil Brooks

and Thaddeus Hwong. This important new study compares high-tax Nordic

countries and low-tax Anglo-America countries on 50 social and economic

measures and finds the high-tax Nordic countries score better in 42

categories. In short, tax cuts are disastrous for the well-being of a

nation's citizens.

 

 

The news release for the study is pasted below. The complete study can

be downloaded from the CCPA web site at

http://www.policyalternatives.ca

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DECEMBER 6, 2006

 

 

Taxes are good for a nation's health and well-being-study

OTTAWA-Canada is falling behind a number of OECD nations in a wide

range of social and economic areas, and a study released today by the

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives points to tax cuts as the

culprit.

 

The study, by Neil Brooks and Thaddeus Hwong, compares high-tax Nordic

countries and low-tax Anglo-American countries on 50 social and

economic measures and finds the high-tax Nordic countries score better

in 42 categories.

 

According to the study, tax cuts are disastrous for the well-being of a

nation's citizens. For example, the high-tax Nordic countries have:

 

lower rates of poverty, more equal income distribution, and more

economic security for their workers;

a higher GDP per capita;

higher rates of household saving and net national saving;

greater innovation, including a higher percentage of GDP spent on

research and development;

a higher ranking on their growth competitiveness by the World Economic

Forum;

higher rates of secondary school and university completion; and

less drug use, more leisure time, and higher life satisfaction.

" By cutting taxes the Conservative government is taking Canada in the

wrong direction, " says Brooks. " It wants to make Canada more like

the United States, yet our findings show that Americans bear severe

social costs for living in one of the lowest taxed countries in the

world. "

 

The U.S. falls near the bottom of the 21 industrialized countries in a

strikingly large number of social indicators. It also ranks as the most

dysfunctional country by a considerable margin.

 

In contrast, Finland ranks near the top of the industrialized world in

most of the social indicators and has been named the most competitive

country in the world by the World Economic Forum four years in a row.

 

" The tax cut lobby has it backwards, " says Hwong. " Not only do

government social programs create a healthier society, they also create

the conditions for a vibrant-and competitive-economy. "

 

 

-30-

 

The Social Benefits and Economic Costs of Taxation: A Comparison of

High- and Low-Tax Countries is available on the CCPA web site at

http://www.policyalternatives.ca

 

Neil Brooks is a CCPA Research Associate and Osgoode Hall Law School

Professor. Thaddeus Hwong is a Professor at the Atkinson Faculty of

Liberal and Professional Studies at York University.

--

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

75-Albert Street, Ottawa, ON K1P 5E7

tel: 613-563-1341

fax: 613-233-1458

http://www.policyalternatives.ca

caw567

 

 

History repeats itself

and each time the price gets higher