>In that sense, our tax plus welfare system at the federal level may be more
>progressive than European welfare states that depend much more heavily on
>payroll and VAT sales taxes that fall much more heavily on working families.
Uh, Nathan, you should really read some of the Smeeding/Rainwater stuff. Max posted some links here the other day, but in case you missed 'em, here they are again:
<http://www-cpr.maxwell.syr.edu/faculty/smeeding/papers/livingstandards.pdf>
<http://www-cpr.maxwell.syr.edu/faculty/smeeding/papers/irpconf.pdf>
"At the federal level" is pretty cute, considering that state and local government taxes and benefits play a big role in post-fisc U.S. income distribution. Also, progressive taxes have a smaller effect on distribution than spending.
Doug