There was a telling tidbit in last week’s jobs report that showed the public sector in this country added more than 40,000 jobs in July at a time when private employers were trimming payrolls, reducing their workforces by roughly 40,000.
The growth of government, of course, comes with costs and that dovetails into a recent report from the Fraser Institute that says taxes are now such a big cost for the average person, they total more than what is spent on food, clothing and shelter.
Since 1961, the Institute’s research shows taxes in this country have gone up by 2,700 per cent. This includes income, sales, carbon, payroll, property, fuel and alcohol taxation.
Housing rose only 2,000 per cent in that time frame while food prices rose 900 per cent and clothing costs increased less than 500 per cent.
Back in 1961, the average family generated an income of $5,000 a year, paying taxes of $1,600 – or about one-third. Last year, the average income was $109,000 and the tax burden rose to $47,000 which translates into a rate of 43 per cent.
