First, Mankiw is one of the most consistently wrong economists of our time. His track record before, during, and after the crash is abysmal.
Second, the page you referenced had a few random examples - which Mankiw himself notes! - and he mentioned nothing about state taxes.
Third, Mankiw's "taxes per person" concept is just another example of his tricks. The only thing he can do anymore is cook up bogus, alternate views of statistics. Worse, in that post, he suggests that high tax rates depress GDP - hey, prove that!! It's completely bogus circular logic (his opinion, really) with no evidence at all!
Mankiw converts the tax rate into a total amount of taxes paid based on GDP per person. By doing that, he apparently tricked you into thinking that you are taxed at a higher rate than Italy, because his cheap parlor trick makes you look at the total bill. Tax rates are how you compare tax burdens - the lower the rate, the lower your tax burden. You make $15M and pay 1% in taxes; I make $300K and pay 50%; both bills $150K - you're going to say our tax burden is identical with a straight face?!?! Seriously?!?!
The OECD's percentage of taxes on the average worker is the percentage of taxes on the average worker. US was 30.4% in 2010. Finland - 42.4%. Australia - 26.8% (my bad). Germany - 49.2%.
http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/economics/country-statistical-profiles-key-tables-from-oecd_20752288
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
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