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Economics focus经济焦点Don’t look down不要向下看The poor like taxing the rich less than you would think穷人不像你想的那样喜欢富人被征税【穷人不像你想得那样喜欢征富人的税】Aug 13th 2011 | from the print edition IN THE 1939 classic Western “Stagecoach”, a villainous banker with a bag of embezzled cash in his lap frets about the state of the American economy: “Our national debt is something shocking!” he complains. That year American public debt was just over two-fifths of GDP. This year, the IMF reckons, it will be just over 98%, rising to over 102% in 2012. Were he still around, the unscrupulous banker might have struggled to express his outrage, although he might have found solace in the fact that America’s August 2nd deal to increase the debt ceiling envisages $2.4 trillion in spending cuts but no tax hikes. This strikes many, both outside the United States and within it, as odd. A Democratic congressman called the debt deal a “sugar-coated Satan sandwich”.1939年在经典的西部”驿站马车”里, 一个腐败的银行家, 腿上放着一袋子的贪污款, 他对美国经济的现状十分担忧:” 我们国家的债务规模实在太吓人了!” 他抱怨道. 那一年, 美国的公共债务仅仅占到GDP的五分之二. 今年, 国际货币基金组织IMF承认, 美国公共债务的GDP占比达到了98%, 预计2012年将超过102%. 如果他现在还在世的话, 这个无耻的银行家可能会费尽心思的来表达他的愤怒, 尽管8.2号美国的提高债务上限, 开支消减2.4万亿但无税务增加的一揽子计划会给他一丝安慰. 这使得美国国内外一片惊讶. 一位民主党国会议员将这个债务计划称为”糖衣魔鬼三明治”.It does, however, loosely reflect longstanding differences between Americans’ attitudes to taxation and those in much of the rest of the rich world. America is far less inclined than many of its rich-world peers to use taxation and redistribution to reduce inequality. The OECD, a think-tank, reckons that taxation eats up a little less than 30% of the average American’s total compensation, compared with nearly 50% in Germany and France. America’s top federal income-tax rate of 35% is lower than in many other advanced economies (although most Americans also pay state taxes). Britain’s top tax rate is 50%. Swedes and Danes acquiesce to tax rates that would outrage many Americans: Sweden’s top rate is 57% and Denmark’s is 55%. Unsurprisingly, the American stat