That GST certainly played a major role since the 1980s. Taxes on corporate profits are on the up and up despite what you would believe from the grumblings of the Left down under.
Source: OECD Stat.
Tax mix in New Zealand as percentage of GDP since 1965
19 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in economic history, politics - New Zealand, public economics Tags: growth of government, size of government, taxation and entrepreneurship, taxation and investment, taxation and labour supply
Tax mix in the USA as a percentage of GDP since 1965
18 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in business cycles, economic history, fiscal policy, great recession, macroeconomics, politics - USA, public economics Tags: company tax, company tax rate, growth of government, GST, indirect taxation, property taxes, size of government, Social Security contributions, taxation and investment, taxation and labour supply, welfare state
The only major change in the US tax mix in the last 50 years has been greater reliance on social security contributions.
Source: OECD Stat.
The share going to income taxes bobbing up and down quite a lot in the last 30 years much of that to do with the business cycle. In the 1990s, the share of taxes from personal income increased during boom times. In the Great Recession, the tax share to income tax rose with the declining economy as did that on corporate profits.
Taxation of personal income and social security contributions as a percentage of US, British, Danish, German, French and New Zealand GDPs since 1965
18 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in economic history, public economics Tags: growth of government, size of government, social insurance, Social Security, Social Security contributions, taxation and labour supply, welfare state
Source: Tax – Social security contributions – OECD Data and Tax – Tax on personal income – OECD Data.
The impact of the 1986 GST on the New Zealand tax mix since 1965
17 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in economic history, politics - New Zealand, public economics Tags: growth of government, GST, income tax, size of government, taxation and labour supply, VAT
The introduction of the GST in 1986 led to a major change in the New Zealand tax mix. There was no offsetting income tax cuts.
Source: Tax – Tax on goods and services – OECD Data and Tax – Tax on personal income – OECD Data.
General government expenditure and general government revenue as a % of Australian and New Zealand GDP since 1970
13 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in budget deficits, economic history, fiscal policy, macroeconomics, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, public economics Tags: Australia, growth of government, size of government
I do not trust the numbers for New Zealand prior to the early 1990s released by the OECD. New Zealand simply did not have a tax structure including a GST in the double digits back then to support estate of that size. Nonetheless, the size of government in New Zealand is systematically larger than in Australia, a richer country which can afford a large government and generous welfare state.
Source: General government – General government revenue – OECD Data and Data extracted on 12 Feb 2016 08:45 UTC (GMT) from OECD.Stat from OECD Economic Outlook November 2015.
General government spending and general government revenue as % of US GDP since 1970
12 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in budget deficits, economic history, fiscal policy, politics - USA, public economics Tags: growth of government, size of government
Source: General government – General government spending – OECD Data and Source: General government – General government revenue – OECD Data.
Japanese, Korean and US tax revenues as a % of GDP since 1965
02 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic history, growth miracles, public economics Tags: growth of government, Japan, size of government, South Korea
Japanese and Korean growth in the size of government seems to validate Directors’ Law. Government get bigger after countries become rich.
Data extracted on 23 Feb 2016 07:08 UTC (GMT) from OECD.Stat.
Japanese, Korean and US general government expenditure as a % of GDP since 1960
02 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic history, growth miracles, Public Choice, public economics Tags: growth of government, Japan, size of government, South Korea
Tax revenues as % of US, British, Canadian and Australian GDPs since 1965
01 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in economic history, public economics Tags: Australia, British economy, Canada, growth of government, size of government
General government expenditure as % of US, British and Canadian GDP since 1960
28 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in economic history, fiscal policy, macroeconomics, politics - USA, public economics Tags: British economy, Canada, growth of government, Margaret Thatcher, size of government, Thatchernomics, Tony Blair
Both the British and Canadian economies experienced major winding backs in the size of government. Only the UK, under neoliberal pawn and closet Thatcherite Tony Blair, was that undone. He is now despised by many Labour Party members including its current leader for this record.
Data extracted on 23 Feb 2016 07:45 UTC (GMT) from OECD.Stat.
What do 10 countries spend their #tax revenue on?
26 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in public economics Tags: size of government
General government expenditure as % of Portuguese, Italian, Greek and Spanish GDP since 1960
24 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in economic growth, economic history, Euro crisis, fiscal policy, macroeconomics, public economics Tags: Greece, growth of government, Italy, Portugal, size of government, Spain
I do not think any of these countries have governments who can really handle managing half of national income on a regular basis. The Italian, and I assume Greek GDPs at least are topped up quite considerably to take account of their underground economies. The top up for Italy is 20%.
Data extracted on 23 Feb 2016 07:45 UTC (GMT) from OECD.Stat.
Tax revenue as % of Portuguese, Italian, Greek and Spanish GDP
23 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in economic history, public economics Tags: Greece, growth of government, Italy, Portugal, size of government, Spain
Once were Sweden! New Zealand, Swedish and Australian general government expenditure as % of GDP since 1986
12 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in economic growth, economic history, fiscal policy, macroeconomics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, public economics Tags: Australia, growth of government, lost decades, size of government, Sweden
I came across this data showing that New Zealand and Sweden had the same sized public sectors in the mid-1980s some years ago. The data could not be found again for a long time in the OECD statistical databases. One reason was the OECD changed its name to general disbursements.
Data extracted on 12 Feb 2016 08:45 UTC (GMT) from OECD.Stat.
The size of the public sector in Australia has not changed much for 30 odd years. The public sector has been in a long decline in Sweden and New Zealand since peaks as a percentage of nominal GDP in the late 1980s and early 1990s respectively.
I know of no comments on the large size of the New Zealand public sector as measured by general government expenditure in the late 1980s. Its contribution to the stagnant economic growth of that time is worth exploring.
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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