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Ask HN: Why is pay so much higher in the US? (or is it?)

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Re: Ask HN: Why is pay so much higher in the US? (or is it?)

#111

Post by gigatexal »

badpun wrote: post #54
gigatexal wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haha pay is higher in the US because, sure, it's the world's largest economy. Though there are more millionares being minted in China than in the US every year. Nevertheless I'd sure as shit not want to build my business in China. I used to think this was because of relatively higher taxes in the EU than in the US but at the top end the highest wage earners are taxed rather heavily. A 500k salary is not 500k takehome…

Mediocre skills pay $150k usd in the US now though.

I could never pass the ridiculous white board challenges. Didn’t have any of that drama here. A take home and a relaxed discussion about it after the fact and I got the role.

Re: Ask HN: Why is pay so much higher in the US? (or is it?)

#112

Post by Sevii »

merek wrote: post #59
pavlov wrote: post #28

Mainly because USA developed multiple geographic clusters where software developers are in high demand (Bay Area for consumer tech, New York for finance etc.) and the funding ecosystem is both deep-pocketed and culturally supports paying for talent. Traditionally European VCs and founders both operated under the assumption that startups need to save money rather than spend to get the best. And consequently those star…

> Traditionally European VCs and founders both operated under the assumption that startups need to save money rather than spend to get the best. And consequently those startups don’t grow into big companies that would pay for talent. I wonder if startups have a better chance of becoming profitable in the EU than in the US, despite the on-average smaller company size. Reasoning: careful cost management gives a startup…

On the other hand, at will employment in the US allows startups to have big layoffs when things go wrong allowing them to more easily survive through hard times. That is not easy to do when you have to give months of notice before firing anyone.

Re: Ask HN: Why is pay so much higher in the US? (or is it?)

#113

Post by Sevii »

skywal_l wrote: post #89
DoingIsLearning wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You make a lot of good points. I agree it is a cultural problem but the other half of the problem is _Taxation_. Culturally most workers in EU markets (I am generalizing but lets exclude Executive, Finance, and Consulting positions) see an offer letter as the end of the recruitment process. People are not confident in negotiating an offer up because they are afraid employers will withdraw or walk-way (Which I have ha…

> Pension Systems that at this point are a Ponzi scheme where working taxpayers are paying for retiree income (Privatized Retirement is fairly limited in Europe and mostly optional on top of standard contributions) How is this a Ponzi Scheme ? Currently working people help sustain retired people the same way retired people help the retired people when they were working and the same way young people will sustain the c…

It is an unsustainable system. Birth rates across Europe are too low for a system that uses working taxpayers to support retirees.

Re: Ask HN: Why is pay so much higher in the US? (or is it?)

#114

Post by DoingIsLearning »

yakak wrote: post #107
krakatau1 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course it's a Ponzi scheme since it promotes freeloading. People without children also expect to receive pension while escaping the effort and time to raise the next generation. When you did this at family level the result was pretty evident, in your old age you were alone and vulnerable. Doing this on national level hides this effect.

There's no reason people in high energy consumption countries should be encouraged to have children. Immigration is a cleaner ponzi scheme that helps reduce suffering among people who already exist instead of making people for apparently greedy motivations.

Why not just allow people the option of privatizing their retirement contributions and stopping this eternal cycle that only would have worked with a bottom heavy population pyramid.

Re: Ask HN: Why is pay so much higher in the US? (or is it?)

#115

Post by creativenolo »

refurb wrote: post #77
creativenolo wrote: post #74

No mention of time off. Salaries might be higher in the US but how should the increased time off factor into the calculations? I'd love to work in the US. But the lack of days off is off putting. I have yet to come off a holiday wishing I'd been working instead — from a short, medium and long term perspective — even when work is great.

If you're working for a SV tech firm, the vacation is comparable. I had 5.5 weeks off per year. I took 5 weeks off in a row one time. People who replied to emails on vacation were laughed at ("don't they have a life beyond work?").

I know of many SV firms how don't do this, and one who does.

Also, do you count sick days in this?

Re: Ask HN: Why is pay so much higher in the US? (or is it?)

#117

Post by yakak »

DoingIsLearning wrote: post #114
yakak wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's no reason people in high energy consumption countries should be encouraged to have children. Immigration is a cleaner ponzi scheme that helps reduce suffering among people who already exist instead of making people for apparently greedy motivations.

Why not just allow people the option of privatizing their retirement contributions and stopping this eternal cycle that only would have worked with a bottom heavy population pyramid.

Getting closer to stable population seems fine with me, for significant decline I question whether the push towards saving and investments are a real solution. Sharply declining workforce would render a lot of the earlier amassed capital worthless and devalue the remainder as all capital would be in surplus for the needs of available labor. Our current paradox with automation would really have to come to an end.

Re: Ask HN: Why is pay so much higher in the US? (or is it?)

#118

Post by rufus_foreman »

turkeysandwich wrote: post #100
skywal_l wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Pension Systems that at this point are a Ponzi scheme where working taxpayers are paying for retiree income (Privatized Retirement is fairly limited in Europe and mostly optional on top of standard contributions) How is this a Ponzi Scheme ? Currently working people help sustain retired people the same way retired people help the retired people when they were working and the same way young people will sustain the c…

It's a Ponzi scheme when it's not sustainable. Social Security in the US, for example is not financially viable in its current form. Either the retirement age will need to be raised or its obligations will need to be abandoned, probably a bit of both. Some but not all European pension schemes are facing similar problems.

>> Either the retirement age will need to be raised or its obligations will need to be abandoned

Or the OASDI tax rate could be raised, or the wage cap on the tax could be raised or eliminated, or growth in GDP might turn out to be higher than expected, or life expectancy might turn out to be lower than expected, or the official inflation rate for Social Security might turn out to be lower than the actual rate, or any number of other possibilities.

And if none of those occur, yes, one option would be to slightly raise the retirement age for people who aren't near retirement, or benefits might need to be slightly cut.

That's not unsustainable and it's not a Ponzi scheme. Ponzi promised a 50 per cent return in 45 days. Ponzi started a company to promote his scheme in January of 1920, he pled guilty on November 1, 1920. He could not have saved his scheme by reducing the rate of return to 48.5% or adding a few weeks to the maturity of the term. It was truly unsustainable in the old sense of the word, not the new meaning of, "that which has been going on for many decades, will continue to go on for many decades much as it has in the past, but which I do not particularly like".

Re: Ask HN: Why is pay so much higher in the US? (or is it?)

#119

Post by thephyber »

badpun wrote: post #46
blackhaz wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in London. Developed a persistent headache which goes on for a few months already. Just got appointment to a neurologist for August 2023. Today is September 2022. Although, is UK in Europe?...

Yep, that's how the coveted socialized health care system looks like in practice in many European countries. Sometimes the queue is short and you can use it. Sometimes it's not and you go to a private doctor instead. Sometimes, the nececessary drug is refunded and you get it for nearly free. Other times it's not and you buy it out of pocket. If it happens to be expensive, it will bankrupt your family just the same (o…

Anecdote: my friend in Silicon Valley is having debilitating headaches and her soonest (employer sponsored health insurance) neurologist appointment was 4 months away.

“The” US health care system in practice is extremely broken unless you have a concierge doctor or you donated enough to get your name on a hospital wing. Rural areas of the US are losing access as hospitals have been closing and urban/suburban areas have seen hospital consolidation. Our system is not an envy of the world, despite the marketing that makes so many people think that.

Re: Ask HN: Why is pay so much higher in the US? (or is it?)

#120

Post by nabogh »

brnt wrote: post #72
badpun wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, that's how the coveted socialized health care system looks like in practice in many European countries. Sometimes the queue is short and you can use it. Sometimes it's not and you go to a private doctor instead. Sometimes, the nececessary drug is refunded and you get it for nearly free. Other times it's not and you buy it out of pocket. If it happens to be expensive, it will bankrupt your family just the same (o…

> Yep, that's how the coveted socialized health care system looks like in practice in many European countries. The NHS really stands out negatively in Europe, no matter how great the Brits think it is. Unfortunately, English-speakers living where they do, this is not really voiced in the English press. Out of all of the Anglophonic world, yes, the NHS is probably the best.

Australian healthcare is pretty good. NHS sounds much worse to me but I've only heard horror stories.
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