TAXATION RESEARCH
PAPER
While much emphasis is place on government as a political
entity, economists look at government as a provider of goods and services. Some goods, such as national security, seem
uniquely suited to government provision, while others, like education could be
provided privately or publicly. Around
the world, different countries make different decisions about whether to
provide certain goods privately or in the public sector. For example, most industrialized countries
have national health insurance, but the United States does not. Because of this, the size of the public
sector varies considerably from country to country.
The research assignment is to choose a European country and compare
its government spending and taxation to the United States. You should also include a brief comparison of
the economies. For certain data, you
should try to control for the size of the country. Every European country is smaller in size
than the U.S., so you will want to look at government spending as a percentage
of GDP as well as taxes as a percentage of GDP.
You should also look at the tax rates individuals face in
those countries, as well as the different items that are taxes.
An important issue here is that not all government spending
takes place at the national level. All
countries have local and regional political subdivisions such as states,
cities, and the sort. Do not overlook
these levels of government, they are important everywhere.
The paper should be about six pages, double spaced. Please provide documentation where
appropriate.
SOME SOURCES (use search engines to find URL)
Eurostat
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
CIA World Factbook
Congressional Budget Office
Census of Governments
World Bank
Economic Report of the President
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