[samgheb]

“The portion of GDP controlled by the government has stayed remarkably consistent since the early 1950s regardless of tax rates. Here are two charts: the first taxes and the second expenditures”

Yes, I have heard of this graph but does this mean that it doesn’t matter one way or the other what has happened to taxes in the last 60 years? I’m assuming that where those 15-20% have come from has changed according to the change in different forms of tax rates so while the overall number has remained steady the extraction of taxes has come from changing sources or no?

Also is this an American phenomenon or is there a similar upper limit for other western countries?