The NHS is expensive. :2 cents:

In a free market system, banks wouldn't be able to run all the scams they are able to run in a mixed economy.

One of these scams is know as fractional reserve banking. Banks basically create money out of thin air. This causes inflation, the transfer of wealth from the hands of people who actually created/produced products (or services) to the hands of the people who created the money out of thin air (the banks) (known as the Cantillon effect),...

If you or I started doing that, that would be considered fraud and counterfeiting and we would be sent to jail. If banks do that in a mixed economy, they are 1) allowed to do that by the government, 2) aided by the government (the whole concept of legal tender*) and 3) protected by the government and central bank.

In a free market system, banks that commit fraud would lose their customers and go out of business. Customers would be forced to act more responsible with their money and banks wouldn't be able to continue doing business or grow if they acted fraudulently.


* "Legal tender or forced tender is an offered payment that, by law, cannot be refused in settlement of a debt, and have the debt remain in force."

So I wasn't that far away.

It has a lot to do with health care and education. For years the Labour party spent money they had to borrow. Then when the banks failed the debt became unmanageable. Bailing out the banks did not help though.

We're not even close.

Ouch... I'm sure ours will go up more in due time.

America has hit the 70% tax rate several times throughout history... even in the 90+% tax rate a few years not so long ago. I'm sure the UK has taken a beating a few times as well.

It's just the way things balance out. More wars, more spending, more of everything, has to be paid for either way. It's not one thing, it's everything.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_...he_Netherlands

* Part of the income from EUR 0 to EUR 17,878: 33.5 % of EUR 17,878 is EUR 5,989
* Part of the income from EUR 17,878 to EUR 32,127: 42 % of EUR 14,249 is EUR 5,984
* Part of the income from EUR 32,127 to EUR 54,776: 42 % of EUR 22,649 is EUR 9,512
* Above that: 52 %.

Correct. Some places like Kansas City you even owe a 1% tax to the city.

Total tax revenue as percentage of GDP

http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/48/27/41498733.pdf

it was the unforseen billions in the bank bailout and the dip in tax reciepts brought on by the recession that raised taxes, the nhs and education are budgeted for its got nothing to do with them.

The problem was it was not UNFORESEEN it was IGNORED. There is a difference.

All the time I paid 50% above 50,000€

Just about that. The Demon pretends like he has investments worth enough to buy me but if he did, he'd know that self-employed high earners in the U.S. give away just about half of every dollar they earn ... the 15% self-employment tax on top of everything else is a bitch.

Of course, that's just on what you bring home ... and even at home you can have deductions or set asides that bring it down.

The Demon fails to realize that in England they get free medical for that tax rate and they don't here. He likes to talk out of his ass.

Oh yeah, there is an income threshold on the self-employment tax that increased again for 2009 but I don't know the newest threshold. If you're a really big baller you can smooth out the self-employment tax to where its hardly noticeable.

lol, well if you want to call what would have been the biggest depression ever known a "market correction" fair enough. financial armageddon is more apt.

It's a good time to be picking up a Spanish Villa on the cheap :winkwink:

Its ridicules over here in the UK what with tax increases and the cost of petrol which will also push a lot of other things up just makes it harder for people to live :(

There are plans to raise tax from 52% to 60% in the Netherlands.. :disgust pretty sure this will happen..

They are crazy here too. I bet they wil rise VAT to 20%, they tried that before the crisis also.

We have to pay for greece that has financial problems. In Greece the people pay much less tax as we do and they stop working when they are 60. We'll have to work till we are 67 and pay 20%+ more taxes. So let's pay for Iceland and Greece so they can retire soon, stupid government here. They forgot we said NO to Europe in a referendum.

I can see 1 good point, maybe we can buy Corfu or Crete.

Cyprus or Gibraltar are still good options :2 cents:

plain and simple usa, uk, aussie know they have you by the balls, even if they tax you at 95% what will you do, nothing, so just be greatful they allow you to keep anything