Did I just hear Andy Rooney just say the U.S. pays some of the highest taxes in the world?

By David J. Lynch, USA TODAY
You'd never know it from all the cable news chatter, but Americans bear the lightest tax burden in the developed world.

Total U.S. tax revenues in 2008 equaled 26.9% of gross domestic product, according to provisional figures released Tuesday by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. That figure – which includes local, state and federal taxes, including Social Security – was lower than the 1990 ratio and far below levels across Europe. In Denmark, the total tax take exceeds 48% of the economy. In France, it tops 43%; Germany, 36%.

To those on the right, who see Uncle Sam's comparatively light touch as a key to economic growth, the new numbers show what's at stake as the Obama White House battles the recession with generous doses of public funds. To others, the tax data from the 30-nation organization suggest the U.S. has room to raise taxes to pay for its unprecedented crisis-related borrowing.

"We're not an overtaxed country," says economist Dean Baker of the left-of-center Center for Economic and Policy Research.