The High Cost of Low Taxes

Last updated on November 4, 2022

The debate about the high cost of low taxes is important for revealing many buried truths. The simple question is: what benefits are the American people getting for the taxes they pay?

Likesome European countries, the American people also pay a similar amount for services such as healthcare, unemployment insurance, and disability. The safety net for which taxes are charged does not always provide the level of safety expected. Another interesting fact is that the government services only account for about 19 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product. Moreover, the responsibility of social services has shifted from the employers and the government to the citizens.

Research by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) revealed that Americans paid $7,960 a per year on average for health care, more than twice the average for other developed countries, yet received less benefits. The use of MRI scanners in the U.S. is more than twice the average for other developed nations. The average of knee replacements in the U.S. for every 100,000 people is 213, compared to the OECD average of 116. There has been an increase in overtreatment, as well as an increase in the privatization of medical services. This overtreatment has yet to result in an increased life expectancy, or a lower infant mortality rate.

This is just one example of the high cost of low taxes.  The impact of low taxes is not always pleasant, and that is an important fact which will cause the American taxpayers view taxes differently.