"John D. Giorgis" schreef:
> The Washington Post has a fascinating article comparing Britain (and to a
> much lesser degree, Europe) to the United States in Tuesday's edition.
>
> Check it out here:
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A88672-2001May28.html
>
> Excerpt:
> ***************
> Income and social security tax rates are generally higher here than in the
> United States, and on every retail purchase consumers pay a whopping
> national sales tax of 17.5 percent.
Just a minor nitpick.
It's 19 percent (since januari this year) in the Netherlands. 21 percent in
Belgium and in Germany. As for the rest of the countries I'm not sure but they
are all around 20 percent. We also used to have a lower tax rate for some goods
(mostly foodstuff) that was around 6 percent but I'm not sure if we still have
that one.
> In contrast, the combined state and
> local sales tax for a shopper in Arlington, Va., is 4.5 percent.
>
> The revenues pay for a broad range of social services known collectively as
> the "welfare state."
>
> In U.S. politics, that phrase is a pejorative. In Europe, it is a point of
> pride. Hague promised at Edgbaston that "a Conservative government will not
> cut a penny of spending on our welfare state."
> ***************
Sonja
