The relationship between tax and income

Martin Wolf in Taxation, productivity and prosperity looks at the relationship between taxation revenue and income per head. He compares Government revenue as a percentage of GDP and growth of real GDP per head at purchasing power. He finds that there is no relationship. That is low taxing countries don't necessarily perform any better or worse than high taxing countries.

He concludes by stating:

The conclusion to be drawn is that a tax burden within the range of 30 per cent to 55 per cent of GDP) tells one nothing about a country’s economic performance. It is far more a reflection of different social preferences about the role of the state. What matters far more are culture, quality of institutions, including law, levels of education, quality of businesses, openness to trade, strength of competition and so forth.

My conclusion is that the focus on the tax burden is misguided. Alternatively, the economic arguments are a cover for (perfectly understandable) self-interest.