"Everyone seems to be pessimistic about America these days (...) So, perhaps, more to cheer myself up than anything else, I decided to ask what it would take to fix the U.S. (...) First, adopt a value added tax (VAT). More than 100 countries have some kind of national sales tax. If America were to enact one tomorrow, at something like the average for industrial countries (18 percent), and drop income tax rates to compensate somewhat, we could bring in hundreds of billions of dollar every year. To get a sense of the revenue potential, imagine if the United States were to adopt a VAT at the high end of the range - 25 percent, similar to that of many Scandinavian countries whose economies have still grown as fast as America's over the last three decades. Such a tax, Leonard Burman calculates in the University of Virginia Tax Review, would bring in enough money to balance the federal budget, pay for health care expansion, eliminate the income tax for all those earning less than $100,000 (90 percent of households), and cut the top tax rate to 25 percent. The tax would also restrain Americans from overconsuming and reward them for saving, the single most important long term shift we need to encourage.", Fareed Zakaria, "Defusing the Debt Bomb", Newsweek (8/03/2010).
Primeiro, a Economist. Agora, a Newsweek. Ainda bem, pois eu também acredito nos méritos desta nova avenida.
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