OTTAWA—Canada is falling behind many other nations in a wide range of social and economic areas, and tax cuts are the culprit.

The study comparing high-tax Nordic countries and low-tax Anglo-American countries on 50 social and economic measures and finds the high-tax Nordic countries score better in 42 categories.

According to the study, tax cuts are disastrous for the well-being of a nation’s citizens.

The four Nordic countries scored better than the lower-taxed countries on most of the 50 indicators measured in the report, including:

* Rate of poverty, equality of income distribution, and economic security for workers.
* GDP per capita.
* Rate of household saving and net national saving.
* Innovation, including percentage of GDP spent on research and development.
* Growth competitiveness as ranked by the World Economic Forum.
* Rates of secondary school and university completion.
* Rate of drug use.
* Leisure time.

In blindly pursing an ideological agenda of tax cuts, primarily benefitting corporations and most wealthy citizens, the Conservative government is taking Canada in the wrong direction. It wants to make Canada more like the United States, yet the findings show that Americans bear severe social costs for living in one of the lowest taxed countries in the world.

The U.S. falls near the bottom of the 21 industrialized countries in very large number of social indicators. It also ranks as the most dysfunctional country by a considerable margin. The U.S. has a greater percentage of people living in poverty, lower incomes for the elderly and the disabled, less economic security for workers, fewer women in professions and senior civil service and "shockingly" unequal income distribution, says the report. Americans also have one of the lowest life expectancies among industrialized nations and workers put in more hours at work than in other nations. In contrast, Finland ranks near the top of the industrialized world in most of the social indicators and has been named the most competitive country in the world by the World Economic Forum four years in a row.The tax cut lobby has it backwards. Not only do government social programs create a healthier society, they also create the conditions for a vibrant and competitive economy.

Download and view the report in .PDF: