Also, half your paycheck goes to the government and European tech salaries are nearly half that of the US. There's no such thing as a free lunch.
The big difference in total compensation after tax between Western Europe and USA is in the compensation part for people that are considered highly skilled. For example for me I get at least 2x here in CA compared to what I would get in Norway and Switzerland. In the UK and Germany the difference is even larger.
For people that are not highly skilled it is the other way round, they would earn significantly more in Europe. Another difference there is that life in Europe is much nicer for the average middle class, but personally I think it’s nicer in the US for upper middle class, the top 10%.
This would indirectly change life for top 10% as you cannot as cheap hire people for services.
This is a gross underestimate. One can quibble about whether the top 40% or 80% of the US is richer/consumes more than in Europe but the idea it’s only true for the top 10% is delusional. Germany has a lower GDP per capita than every state bar Mississippi. The US has a higher average household income than everywhere but Hong and much larger households. The US is just richer than any remotely comparable country. The countries that look similar on GDP per capita, like Norway, consume a great deal less.
Gdp per capital is misleading without talking about measures of income inequality
It’s really hard to explain and I guess having to be experienced.
I think this has not always been true, and is part of the reason why we are seeing discontent in the US right now. Life for middle class used to be a lot more comfortable.
To be honest my life does not change at all based on sales tax. Perhaps for cars but other than that it is sort of a rounding error. So little of my money goes to direct consumption compared to house and savings.