I'm still stuck in the Thomas Sowell "Compared to What?" mode, so I thought I'd do a quick economic comparison between the US, Germany and Australia.
We've been arguing a lot over economics here at Western Hero and around Right Blogistan. I want to present a few basic economic facts to help us keep it in perspective. All information is from The Heritage Foundation 2011 Index of Economic Freedom.
It is useful to state statistics as a percentage of GDP, since GDP is the generally accepted (although imperfect) expression of a nation's total economic output. It's the whole pie.
A Tale of Three Countries
Here are a few facts about America, Germany and Australia. I include Australia because it ranks #3 on The Heritage Foundation's index and it is a model of small government. I list Germany because liberals, with reason, like to cite that country as a successful example of enlightened progressive governance.
United States of America
GDP: $14.2 Trillion
Total Revenue: 26.9% of GDP
Total Government Expenditures: 38.9%
Germany
GDP: $2.8 Trillion
Total Revenue: 40.6% of GDP
Total Government Expenditures: 43.7%
Australia
GDP: $851.2 Billion
Total Revenue: 30.8% of GDP
Total Government Expenditures: 34.3%
One thing that immediately stands out is that all three countries spend more than they take in. Must be an international contagion.
Liberals want us to be more like Germany
I at least credit them with ignoring Communist North Korea and Castro's Socialist island paradise to pick a pretty good model. In order to emulate Germany, we'd have to tax everything, making the price of everything go up. Imagine a 19% sales tax. Denmark, Sweden and Norway have a VAT of 25%! We'd also have to strip states of their remaining rights, since the federal government only collects 18% of GDP, with the other 10% collected unevenly and unfairly among the states. Get that done and you still have to figure out how to squeeze another 15 cents of every dollar out of the taxpayer.
Note the small difference in expenditure/GDP between Germany and the US. We're almost on par, yet our social services stink in comparison to Germany's. I think this points to horrible inefficiencies in how our government operates. This also explains why Obama and his liberal fellow travelers are demanding draconian tax hikes to feed the voracious beast.
Conservatives should point to Australia
Australia is the gold standard of how a country should operate. It is ranked #3 in the world in The Heritage Foundation index. Only Singapore and Hong Kong are higher (but who wants to live where you can get sick breathing the air or get your ass caned for chewing gum in public?).
Australia has a relatively small and efficient government, low corruption, and light but effectively enforced regulations on the economy and banking. It is an excellent business climate, and that translates into Joe Biden's favorite three-letter word: J-O-B-S.
I would glady pay taxes for a government like Australia's that provides a great return on taxpayer money and doesn't stifle freedom in the process.
See also: Western Hero - How to run a Country: Australia
