How to save the American economy with a value-added tax

"... In the U.S. we tax our own citizens and then ask foreign countries to loan us the difference. Everywhere else in the world they tax their own citizens and then charge foreign corporations for entry access to their market.

U.S. companies annually pay an accumulative average of more than $550 billion to these foreign VAT systems.This money goes into the coffers of foreign governments; it pays for their bullet trains, alternative energy plants, universal health care, and free/subsidized access to a university education. Every year we in America continue to ignore our own needs in these areas due to lack of funding.

If the United States had a value-added tax, we would first need to lower income taxes and corporate taxes, leaving more money in the pockets of companies and individuals who can then go out and buy things in the economy. You then replace those lost taxes with a national consumption tax and build revenue on the things that people buy. In 2009 the United States imported $1.9 trillion worth of goods and products. If we had in place just a 10 percent VAT we could have raised $190 billion from those imports..."   ( essay here, from "Economy In Crisis")