Europe’s Unsustainable Welfare State

Jon Government

Angela Merkel used to say that ‘the European Union is about 5% of the world’s population, about 25% of its GDP, and about 50% of global welfare spending’:
The real data is more concerning.
The European Union is:
7.2% of the World Population.
23.8% of the World’s GDP.
58% of the World’s Welfare Spending.
Something has to give.
The EU average tax burden on workers is 44.9%. The average worker in the EU spends half a year working for the tax man.
Taxation accounts for 41% of the euro area GDP.
Ease of doing business remains below the leading economies of the world.
Bureaucracy is asphyxiating. The EU approves on average 80 directives, 1,200 regulations and 700 decisions per year.
The main EU economies remain significantly below the leaders in economic freedom.

This post was published at Ludwig von Mises Institute on 07/14/2017.