[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_average_annual_labor...
And in all the countries the middle class pays for the rich and poor... unfortunately.
Something like tax rates statistics wouldn't tell you whether those taxes are actually paid - but tax revenue statistics do exactly this.
Imagine a person in Portugal has a 1000€ salary, and the state takes 40%, the person has 600€ to live.
A person in Germany gains 3000€, the state takes 60%, the person has 1200€, double the Portuguese.
Cost of living in Germany is higher, but not twice that much. And the cost of living already factors in some taxes, such as VAT, so it's not an apples-to-apples comparison.
Hm...that's a good point actually - net PPP-adjusted household displosable income is definitely lower in Portugal: http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/topics/income/
The US is largely socialism and profits for the corporations and free market absolutism and costs for the working poor.
Doesn't seem like it to me.
These kinds of statements don't really add much to the debate - they sound like political slogans. To add to some light instead of just heat to the discussion, it is better to explain what you are saying. How are you defining poor? What tax rate do you think this group should pay? What tax rate do you think corporations should pay? How does that compare with other countries? etc.
(I don't mean to single out this particular posting, as I have seen political slogans used throughout this thread.)
The middle class is basically paying for the rich and poor and they don't have money to spend on the economy. We can't support our companies because their products are actually more expensive than outside products (companies pay a lot of taxes too).
It's more than known by every good economist that overtaxing isn't good for any economy.