In my political science class today, I met a student from Kuwait, who informed me that Kuwait has universal health care, which is “free”. To which I responded, “Well, it’s not necessarily free if you pay for it with taxes though, is it?” And I was quickly informed that Kuwait has a 0% income tax rate. I found this to be an interesting case review and wanted to see what some of the perspectives were here.
But my question is, what makes a capitalist alternative better in your opinion?
Income Tax is not the only tax that exists, there are plenty of others.
I believe this article is quite good with covering much of the problems of Socialized Medicine, “The Real Right to Medical Care versus Socialized Medicine” by George Reisman:
There are no personal taxes in Kuwait, however all businesses pay an income tax. The state also runs a lot of the industry (oil), though I don’t know if the profits go directly into the state’s bank account or if they just take the 15% corporate income tax. It isn’t free, it’s just paid for through higher prices/lower access to other businesses. Their health care system is being transitioned away from the current model due to massive cost inflation, wait times, and shortages. Just like all of the other socialized medical care schemes.
Overall Kuwait is pretty economically free. What a country with the size and resources of the United States could do these days with that kind of economic freedom would be phenomenal.
Besides being a rentier state, majority of population are non-citizens whose tax burden is heavier.