U.S. employment conditions compare poorly to the rest of the developed world

Post by nerdponx » Thu, Jul 05, 2018, 2:09 PM UTC

finaliteration wrote: post #13

Reactionary_ wrote: post #2

The US is one of the best places in the world to be a business owner, that's why its economy is so much more dynamic than European economies. In order to create such an environment worker protections cannot be as robust as in Europe. This biased article of course ignores that fact. Many workers are much better off in the US than in Europe as well. They get to keep a greater portion of their income, their income goes…

> They get to keep a greater portion of their income I always see this come up during discussions about how the US compares to other developed countries. I think the mentality is slightly different in the EU. If you were raised knowing that your income was going to be taxed at 50% but you also got free healthcare, education, welfare assistance, etc., you’d probably learn to value those things over buying a bigger TV…

Post by sol_remmy » Thu, Jul 05, 2018, 2:10 PM UTC

zepto wrote: post #17

sol_remmy wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Notice how every sector of the economy that the government is highly involved with (health care, education, real estate) keeps increasing its costs? Your inflated health care bills helped pay for the 280k average salary of physicians (source: https://www.medscape.com/slideshow/2018-compensation-overvie... ), which is over 2x as high as Western european doctors' salary. You can thank the aggressive occupational licens…

And yet health care costs are lower in countries where the government runs healthcare. Our system of government involvement, where it’s neither a free market, nor a single payer system, is indeed an example of the worst way government can be involved.

Post by bluecalm » Thu, Jul 05, 2018, 2:12 PM UTC

nerdponx wrote: post #9

Reactionary_ wrote: post #2

The US is one of the best places in the world to be a business owner, that's why its economy is so much more dynamic than European economies. In order to create such an environment worker protections cannot be as robust as in Europe. This biased article of course ignores that fact. Many workers are much better off in the US than in Europe as well. They get to keep a greater portion of their income, their income goes…

This is true for middle-class and upper-middle class workers. But there has always been an underclass of people who barely make enough to survive, lack the market power to negotiate for better wages, lack the ability to acquire new skills in order to get different jobs, and/or are stuck with their current employers for lack of other opportunities. This population is also susceptible to overtime abuse and wage theft.…

Post by realusername » Thu, Jul 05, 2018, 2:14 PM UTC

sol_remmy wrote: post #23

zepto wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yet health care costs are lower in countries where the government runs healthcare. Our system of government involvement, where it’s neither a free market, nor a single payer system, is indeed an example of the worst way government can be involved.

And the Western European governments have _death panels_ to decide who deserves medical care and who deserves to die. And, in Western Europe, you must wait over a month for your non-urgent surgery, and much longer to be admitted into the ER. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/world/europe/uk-national-... . And you might die while waiting for your medical care: https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/bacchus-barua-/wait-times-c…

Post by maratd » Thu, Jul 05, 2018, 2:15 PM UTC

nerdponx wrote: post #9

Reactionary_ wrote: post #2

The US is one of the best places in the world to be a business owner, that's why its economy is so much more dynamic than European economies. In order to create such an environment worker protections cannot be as robust as in Europe. This biased article of course ignores that fact. Many workers are much better off in the US than in Europe as well. They get to keep a greater portion of their income, their income goes…

This is true for middle-class and upper-middle class workers. But there has always been an underclass of people who barely make enough to survive, lack the market power to negotiate for better wages, lack the ability to acquire new skills in order to get different jobs, and/or are stuck with their current employers for lack of other opportunities. This population is also susceptible to overtime abuse and wage theft.…