Tax the Rich, Make the World Happier, Says Study
Republican presidential candidates are fighting it out to get the nomination to face the incumbent president, Obama in the 2012 polls.
Some of the policies they are pegging towards their nomination are their zeal to have the taxes for the wealthy cut, but doing so might plunge the country into deeper national misery.
This is according to a study report to be published in the upcoming issue of Psychological Science.
According to the study, countries with more progressive tax policies, which highly tax the rich than the poor, are said to have happier citizens than those with a flatter tax rates.
The difference in their satisfaction with the nation's public services might be the reason for the varied happiness levels, says the study.
Public transportation, housing, schools and other public services offered in the countries in progressive taxes seem to please the citizens than the same services offered in countries with flatter tax rates.
Shigehiro Oishi, the lead researcher and a psychologist at the University of Virginia, says that tax policies immensely affect the citizens' happiness.
Certain policies, like tax progressivity, contribute immensely to the happiness of the people.
A 2007 report on well-being based on a survey of close to 60,000 people from 132 countries was used to reach an interesting conclusion; the data was then paired with tax rate data from 54 of them.
Not surprisingly, countries with progressive tax rates vastly correlated with those whose citizens expressed greater day-to-day contentment and comfort.
The researchers were however quick to point out that, although progressive tax codes corresponded with greater well-being, the tax rates didn't show any correlation and neither did government expenditure.
Some of the countries that were ranked as having the greatest well-being are Denmark, Norway, and Canada: all with progressive tax policies.
Another one was Finland, which has a 30% income tax for the very wealth residents and 0% tax for the poorest residents.
On the other side, citizens who were unhappy with their well-being overall and probably instinctively, less satisfaction with public goods, were from countries whose governments spent more in relation to the nation's gross domestic product.
This lead the researchers in reaching the conclusion that large governments may not in most cases be good for the people.
This means that people are more interested and happy with the efficiency with which their taxes are spent as opposed to the amount their government spends on public services.
Some of the policies they are pegging towards their nomination are their zeal to have the taxes for the wealthy cut, but doing so might plunge the country into deeper national misery.
This is according to a study report to be published in the upcoming issue of Psychological Science.
According to the study, countries with more progressive tax policies, which highly tax the rich than the poor, are said to have happier citizens than those with a flatter tax rates.
The difference in their satisfaction with the nation's public services might be the reason for the varied happiness levels, says the study.
Public transportation, housing, schools and other public services offered in the countries in progressive taxes seem to please the citizens than the same services offered in countries with flatter tax rates.
Shigehiro Oishi, the lead researcher and a psychologist at the University of Virginia, says that tax policies immensely affect the citizens' happiness.
Certain policies, like tax progressivity, contribute immensely to the happiness of the people.
A 2007 report on well-being based on a survey of close to 60,000 people from 132 countries was used to reach an interesting conclusion; the data was then paired with tax rate data from 54 of them.
Not surprisingly, countries with progressive tax rates vastly correlated with those whose citizens expressed greater day-to-day contentment and comfort.
The researchers were however quick to point out that, although progressive tax codes corresponded with greater well-being, the tax rates didn't show any correlation and neither did government expenditure.
Some of the countries that were ranked as having the greatest well-being are Denmark, Norway, and Canada: all with progressive tax policies.
Another one was Finland, which has a 30% income tax for the very wealth residents and 0% tax for the poorest residents.
On the other side, citizens who were unhappy with their well-being overall and probably instinctively, less satisfaction with public goods, were from countries whose governments spent more in relation to the nation's gross domestic product.
This lead the researchers in reaching the conclusion that large governments may not in most cases be good for the people.
This means that people are more interested and happy with the efficiency with which their taxes are spent as opposed to the amount their government spends on public services.
Source...