Capital markets/tax treatments go a long way to explain US/EU GDP growth divergence.
Taxes are also a major part of why venture capital and innovation is dead in Europe, and why we have no chance of leading on AI or tech in the years to come.
Imagine a venture firm backing a new AI startup in the UK.
To be competitive, its highly skilled employees would need to take home after tax similar to what they can earn at other leading AI startups globally. That means high pay and, in the UK, high taxes on that pay.
At marginal rates of ~70% for high earners, the venture fund can expect to pay up to $700k out of every $1m it puts into the startup almost straight to government via various forms of income tax, national insurance, council tax, VAT, and many other smaller taxes.
The venture firm’s money would therefore go a lot further if it just backed a firm in another country with lower tax rates.
Tax on individuals is also a tax on capital and a tax on innovation. If you heavily tax innovation you can’t expect to grow.