Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation

For Immediate Release
Tuesday, November 27, 2001
202-285-0244
www.freedomandprosperity.org

New Study Explains Why Tax Harmonization Threatens America's Competitive Advantage In Global Economy

The Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation today released a comprehensive study showing why tax harmonization is a threat to America's competitive advantage. Andrew Quinlan, President of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity, remarked, "This new study definitively explains why the tax harmonization and information exchange schemes of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the European Union, and the United Nations are a threat to America's interests."

The report, entitled "The Adverse Impact of Tax Harmonization and Information Exchange on the U.S. Economy," is written by Heritage Foundation tax expert Daniel J. Mitchell.

"The United States is a low-tax jurisdiction, the United States is a tax haven, and the United States is the world's biggest beneficiary of international tax competition," said Daniel Mitchell. "The overall tax burden in the U.S. is 29 percent of GDP, compared to 43 percent of GDP in the European Union. This enormous advantage helps explain why living standards in the U.S. are 50 percent higher than EU levels, why economic growth has been so much stronger in America over the past two decades, and why unemployment rates are so much lower in the United States."

"Hopefully, this new report will make United States policy makers understand that the interests of the United States are not the same as the interests of countries like France or Germany," added Veronique de Rugy, Cato Institute policy analyst and Center for Freedom and Prosperity Board member.

"Armed with this new information, we can expect even greater resistance from American policy makers to the anti-taxpayer proposals of the OECD, EU and UN." concluded Quinlan.

The full report can be found on the Center for Freedom and Prosperity's web page (link below):
http://www.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxharm/taxharm.shtml

PDF version:
http://www.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/taxharm/taxharm.pdf

For additional comments:
Andrew Quinlan can be reached at 202-285-0244, quinlan@freedomandprosperity.org
Dan Mitchell can be reached at 202-608-6224, dan.mitchell@heritage.org
Veronique de Rugy can be reached at 202-842-0200, vderugy@cato.org

The Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy, research, and educational organization operating under Section 501(C)(3). The CFP Foundation is the research and educational affiliate of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity (CFP) and can be reached by calling 202-285-0244 or visiting our web site at www.freedomandprosperity.org.

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