No surprise there

Guess which country boasts the largest underground economy in the world?  Greece.  They cheat themselves to the tune of a whopping 22.4% of their GDP.  And guess what this criminal behaviour results in?  A failed country with ever-increasing taxes necessitated by the fact that no one pays their fair share! 

No wonder the Germans -- and everyone else -- don't want to support that stupid place.  But not to be outdone in this fiscal race to the bottom, next in line is Italy at 20.1%, with Spain following closely behind at 18.2%.  These are three of the most disastrous countries in the world and it's no surprise.  Skipping out on the tax man is a cultural badge of honour for the citizens of these dumps -- something which they proudly practice wherever they venture.  I certainly know CRA was well aware of these deadbeats when I worked there, although it couldn't say so publically. 

Here are a few other notables:

Portugal -- 17.6%
Belgium -- 16.2 (that surprised me)
Norway --  13
Finland --   12
France --    12.3

Canada stands at 10.3%, which is shameful, but the US -- which everyone condemns as money-grubbing -- has the smallest underground economy of any OECD country.  A paltry 5.9%.  Good on them!

In my own anecdotal experience, three of the most enthusiastic demanders of cash we hired as tradesmen in Ottawa were Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.  In fact, CRA actually put two of them in jail.  Just sayin.....

I am always on about the evils of the underground economy and the reason is very simple.  The larger the underground economy, the higher the taxes have to be to ensure a functioning society.  Harper is right to lower taxes because lower taxes discourage illegal cash business.  And he's right about the new NDP Alberta premier.  She will be a disaster.

So woe to anyone who votes for that other NDPer Mulcair.  He has absolutely no idea about how a national economy must function.  Not a clue.