The WSJ reports that in spending, debt and progressivity of
taxes, the U.S. is as much a social-welfare state as the least social welfare-d
state on the continent, Spain.
I'm often asked if I think America is trending toward
becoming a European-style social democracy. My answer is: "No, because we
already are a European-style social democracy." From the progressivity of
our tax code, to the percentage of GDP devoted to government, to the extent of
the regulatory burden on business, most of Europe's got nothing on us.
In 1938—the year my organization, the American Enterprise
Institute, was founded—total government spending at all levels was about 15% of
GDP. By 2010 it was 36%. The political right can crow all it wants about how
America is a "conservative country," unlike, ...
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