Laffer Curve? from Kim Zussman
Here is a quick look at 2008 per-capita GDP and income taxes.
Country data on "all-in" income tax rate (income tax plus employee social security contributions):
Calculated average % tax for single (no child, two children), married single earner (no child, two children), and compared to per-capita GDP from Wikipedia/IMF, by country for major countries:
Country Tax GDP pc
Australia 21.7% 36918
Austria 32.8% 39887
Belgium 36.6% 36416
Canada 19.2% 39098
Czech Republ 15.1% 25118
Denmark 38.2% 37304
Finland 30.0% 36320
France 24.0% 34205
Germany 33.0% 35539
Greece 26.4% 30681
Hungary 38.3% 19553
Iceland 19.5% 40471
Ireland 10.0% 42110
Italy 25.6% 30631
Japan 18.3% 34116
Korea 11.2% 27692
Luxembourg 21.5% 82441
Mexico 5.1% 14534
Netherlands 32.6% 40558
New Zealand 21.2% 27083
Norway 27.9% 53738
Poland 24.6% 17537
Portugal 18.7% 22232
Slovak Republic 16.8% 22097
Spain 14.5% 30589
Sweden 26.7% 37334
Switzerland 18.3% 43196
Turkey 26.8% 13139
United Kingdom 24.8% 36358
United States 17.7% 40440
Ignoring that the Laffer Curve is supposed to be an inverted parabola, here is regression showing no relationship:
Regression Analysis: GDP versus all in tax
The regression equation is
GDP = 30035 + 18111 all in tax
Predictor Coef SE Coef T P
Constant 30035 7250 4.14 0.000
all in tax 18111 29442 0.62 0.543
S = 13134.8 R-Sq = 1.3% R-Sq(adj) = 0.0%
An exercise left to the reader would be effect of within-country change in all-in personal tax vs per-capita GDP.