Quote from Bob111:
such income will be taxed at same rate in US, if you sum ALL gvt taxes. local,state and federal. and there is no six week vacation and nothing is "free" in US
I would agree that one needs to compare total tax burden (direct plus indirect). This is similar in Germany and the US.
There are real differences in the way the Federal budget is spent in the two countries however. For example, Germany spends approximately $280 per person per year on military and related expenditures, whereas the US spends about $4000 per person per year.
German medical care is higher than in many other countries but is still far below medical costs in the US.
Germany graduates more engineers than the US.
German students are still tracked according to abilities as was done in the US up until the "Great Society" begun in the 1960's during the L. Johnson administration.
Germany has a far more intact social welfare system than does the US.
Germany has a well developed, and advanced, public transportation system. The US does not.
Only about 13% of Germans consider religion to be important in their lives versus over 50% of US citizens.
I'm not intending to pass judgment here. Just pointing out some significant differences between the two countries.
And here are two judgment calls:
1. The German national soccer team is better than the US national soccer team.
2. The general quality of German sausage is better than the general quality of US sausage.
3. The US market is better than the German market for high fructose corn syrup manufacturers.