Does that include health care and free speech rules?
In Canada total tax and non-tax revenue for every level of government equals about 38.4% of GDP, compared to the U.S. rate of 28.2%. Canada has a national goods and services tax of 5% on most purchases, while the U.S. federal government does not, increasing the tax burden on Canadian low-income earners due to the proportional nature of a sales tax.
Canada’s government spending is at 39.7% of GDP, and has been decreasing.
The U.S. is at 38.9% of GDP, and increasing. You may have forgotten the States and Local Governments.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_spending
The trajectory of each country is also interesting. Canada is shrinking its government, the U.S. is growing it.
Cato: May/June 2012, We Can Cut Government: Canada Did
http://www.cato.org/policy-report/mayjune-2012/we-can-cut-government-canada-did
People invest in the future and the trend. I like Canada’s trend better than ours.
Speech codes are troubling. Mohammed was a pedophile.
Taxing purchases encourages savings and investment compared to consumption. As tax regimes go, that bias tends to encourage economic growth compared to a regimen that is more based on taxing (punishing) income and investment.
So, on balance, Canada is doing quite well.
I’m just saying that a short visit confirmed the articles and statistics I’ve seen. Wow. Those people have it going on.