The international importance of low tax rates1

G-7 economies raised tax rates in the 1990s, unlike the 1980s. Yet many developing nations continued to bring their highest tax rates down. Economic growth among 19 countries with low or falling tax rates averaged 5.8% a year from 1990 to 1996, up from 4.5% in the preceding decade. At the same time, annual GDP growth among G-7 countries slowed to 1.7%, down from 2.9%.