Why taxes are low in the Middle East
High taxes help to build an effective state. That many Middle Eastern countries don’t have them tells us much http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/aug/23/why-taxes-low-arab-world
This first blog post of the new school year is a response to the cited article. This article discusses how taxation has affect western culture throughout history, and why it remains low in Arab states today. The feud of taxation has been a major problem for century, from the greedy roman tax collectors, to the spark of the American Revolution, to todays intra-American feuds over the “fair” way to tax, whom to tax, and how much to tax. Taxation has spurred democracy, so citizens can have a say in the tax their government gives them, but this was consistently a result of previous high taxes. In non-democratic states, taxation remains low, allowing dictator powers to stay in power, as their money come from other sources and they can then shower the public with services nto form their own pocket. In oil-states, the low tax on oil makes in cheaper to be purchased and resold in other countries, fueling the government with cash flow and continuing the cycle. Low taxes makes its difficult for democratic system to stick as they are not needed. I found it interesting that taxation can reflect and influence a government’s control over a body of people, as explained in this article.
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