The American economy reached a watershed 30 years ago when Ronald Reagan came into office. While Europe decided to boost its tax-to-gross domestic product ratio in the 1970s and 1980s to fund an expanded range of education, training, labour market and family support programmes, the US did not. Reagan insisted that less, not more, government was the key to prosperity and growth, and put emphasis on lowering tax rates on top incomes. Federal revenues in the fiscal year 2011 amounted to 15 per cent of GDP, less than the 19 per cent of GDP of 1980.
30年前羅納德?里根(Ronald Reagan)就任美國總統時,美國經濟達到了一座分水嶺。上世紀70年代和80年代,歐洲決定提高稅收與國內生產總值(GDP)的比率,以承擔更大范圍的教育、培訓、勞動力市場和家庭補助計劃,但美國沒有這么做。里根堅稱,更小而非更大的政府才是繁榮與增長的關鍵,并重點降低最高收入階層的所得稅率。2011財年,美國聯邦財政收入達到GDP的15%,低于1980年的19%。