David Ignatius penned a piece for today’s Investors Business Daily warning U.S. politicians not to dither. America has a growing federal deficit and, “The sensible real-world answer, many economists argue, is a value-added tax that would encourage saving at the same time it pays down the deficit to manageable levels. But politicians are terrified of being right too soon on this one,” writes Ignatius, who goes on to say that the U.S. is guaranteed to have a debt crisis. Not because of out-of-control government spending, the cost of entitlement programs, and all that goes on in Washington. No, that’s not it. Ignatius claims that by ruling out VAT, “when it could actually keep the federal deficit in check,” a debt crisis is assured.
So Greece, how’s that VAT working for you? The standard VAT rate in Greece is 21%.
