Progressive Taxation System

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History Assignment

History Assignment

“When those who benefit most from living in a country contribute least to its welfare and defense, and those who benefit least are asked to pay the ultimate price, something happens to the soul of that country…”

Introduction

The above statement is certainly true when one looks at the current situation of the United States, a country where there is a growing taxpayer disparity (Page & Jacobs, 2009). Evaluating the US income tax system from 1964 to date, it can be seen that it has become less progressive over the decades. A taxation system is said to be progressive when the tax rates rise along with an increase in the overall value of taxable wealth. Progressive taxation systems essentially mitigate the negative influence of recessions by levying les taxes on low-income consumers since they contribute less to the economy. This allows the low income consumers to spend their disposable income mostly on their own consumption and this helps in the restoration of equilibrium.

Discussion

Today, the tax code being followed in the United States is strongly counter-progressive. This is because the low-income consumers are being forced to make most of the contributions while those belonging to the elite class get away almost untaxed (Page & Jacobs, 2009). This has created a strong disparity in the taxation system where most of the strain is on the poor and the middle-class consumers. Therefore, those benefitting most from living in the United State are contributing the least towards its welfare while the American layman belonging to the middle class is being forced to pay the ultimate price (Page & Jacobs, 2009).

The gap that has perpetually existed between the rich and the poor has increased over the last two decades and this is mainly attributed to government deficits that will have an even broader impact in the following decades as anticipated by experts who have conducted surveys through the World Economic Forum. Phenomena like acute shortage of water supplies. climate changes, and an ever-increasing percentage of aging populations make up the rest of the list of the top five risk factors. More than a thousand experts consulted by the organization, which has its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, also reiterate that numerous risks can work in collaboration to produce a wide range of problems for the people of the United States. These combinations include an impact on the world economy caused by climate change, and an economy in turn weakened to combat global warming. “These risks are essentially a global health alert regarding our most critical systems,” said Lee Howell yesterday, editor of the Forum report. “The resilience to global risks have to be a priority for critical systems continue to function despite major disruption”. The experts also identified a global health threat of the growing resistance of viruses to antibiotics. Another concern is a new “digital wild fire” with erroneous or disputed information by spreading virally network.

Although Europe have avoided bankruptcy euro and the U.S. fiscal gap, there are many problems to be addressed, and they ...