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While researching uzbekistan, I have stumbled on an interesting statistic:
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While researching uzbekistan, I have stumbled on an interesting statistic:
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https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/taxes-and-other-revenues
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https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/taxes-and-other-revenues
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The "taxes and revenues by GDP" (i dub thee "TER") is a percentage determined by adding taxes, kind-of taxes (i.e. hospital insurance), grants (presumably by international funds) and net revenues from state-owned companies; and dividing this number by GDP. This number basically shows how much of the money made by the economy goes to the government. To my understanding, this does not include printing money, which all countries with a national currency do to a certain degree.
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The "taxes and revenues by GDP" (i dub thee "TER") is a percentage determined by adding taxes, kind-of taxes (i.e. hospital insurance), grants (presumably by international funds) and net revenues from state-owned companies; and dividing this number by GDP. This number basically shows how much of the money made by the economy goes to the government. To my understanding, this does not include printing money, which all countries with a national currency do to a certain degree.
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Now, why did the CIA find TER important (or interesting) enough to include it in their factbook?
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Now, why did the CIA find TER important (or interesting) enough to include it in their factbook?
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Here are some interesting numbers:
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Here are some interesting numbers:
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The World average is 15%.
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The World average is 15%.
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The communist Cuba has 58% TER. Only 2 nations have a higher TER than cuba: The tiny island nation Tuvalu (107% TER! How is that possible?) and the small city state Andorra (60% TER).
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The communist Cuba has 58% TER. Only 2 nations have a higher TER than cuba: The tiny island nation Tuvalu (107% TER! How is that possible?) and the small city state Andorra (60% TER).
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The United States has 12% TER.
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The United States has 12% TER.
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However,
Germany
only
has
11%
TER.
You
would
think
this
number
would
be
higher
in
a
country
famous
for
its
social
welfare.
Could
this
be
because
the
US
spends
its
money
very
inefficently,
i.
e.
the
inefficent
healthcare
system,
the
suburban
sprawl,
high
rents
for
student
debt/mortgages
which
go
to
rich
people,
the
bloated
military,
expensive
universities?
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However,
Germany
only
has
11%
TER.
You
would
think
this
number
would
be
higher
in
a
country
famous
for
its
social
welfare.
Could
this
be
because
the
US
spends
its
money
very
inefficently,
i.
e.
the
inefficent
healthcare
system,
the
suburban
sprawl,
high
rents
for
student
debt/mortgages
which
go
to
rich
people,
the
bloated
military?
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Logically, a higher TER would indicate that the state plays a larger role in the economy and the welfare of its citizens, whilst a lower TER implies that private persons (rich people and corporations) play a larger role for the economy and social welfare, right? But what if the state is run by oligarchs? Wouldn't a part of this money would get funneled corruptly into their own pockets? What if a country is a small developing nation dependant on international grants? What if a nation has so powerful corporations, they only need a small cut to finance their welfare spending? What if a nation prints 12 trillion moneys? There are a ton of variables which could skew TER's meaning.
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Logically, a higher TER would indicate that the state plays a larger role in the economy and the welfare of its citizens, whilst a lower TER implies that private persons (rich people and corporations) play a larger role for the economy and social welfare, right? But what if the state is run by oligarchs? Wouldn't a part of this money would get funneled corruptly into their own pockets? What if a country is a small developing nation dependant on international grants? What if a nation has so powerful corporations, they only need a small cut to finance their welfare spending? What if a nation prints 12 trillion moneys? There are a ton of variables which could skew TER's meaning.
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In the case of measuring citizen's welfare, one could do this directly. In the case of how much powerful private interests are, one could use the gini coefficent to check how unequally money is distributed.
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In the case of measuring citizen's welfare, one could do this directly. In the case of how much powerful private interests are, one could use the gini coefficent to check how unequally money is distributed.
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So, what does TER really mean? Does it mean nothing at all? What is its purpose?
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So, what does TER really mean? Does it mean nothing at all? What is its purpose?
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"taxes and other revenues" in the CIA factbook