As a Spaniard who has discussed this in lenght with many other Europeans[1], it really seems like the US is the main country with the University debt issue. I also really believe that "score inflation" is a big issue mainly in the US. If everyone can finish University, then having a university title becomes pointless! [2] In Spain, Germany, France, Italy, etc if you get a degree in STEM it means you put a lot of effo…
> If everyone can finish University, then having a university title becomes pointless!
If everyone has access to a shovel, or a computer, does having that thing become pointless?
> Aarnes’ hourly pay starts at 164 Norwegian kroner (around $20), increasing for weekend and evening shifts. After taxes (which are comparatively high in Scandinavia) he’s left with around 14,000 kroner ($1700) a month, of which he sets aside half for rent, travel and bills and uses the rest for “whatever else” he likes. The likely reason why he can earn this much with a supermarket job is because everyone else has m…
> The likely reason why he can earn this much with a supermarket job is because everyone else has more disposable income, which means it's easier to make products more expensive and to afford to pay higher salaries for such jobs. Prices also show this. If you want to go get a couple of beers in Oslo you’ll find $10-15 to be normal in central parts of town ($10 average for the city). Nominal wages don’t say much. Purc…
Beer might be a bad example, isn't alcohol generally very expensive in Scandinavian countries? (Though indeed cost of living is probably on the higher side)
> [1] oddly enough I have never discussed this with british people Over recent decades tuition fees have been rising, but they've been covered by a special loan. Paying back this loan is taken out of your pay cheque (via PAYE) based on how much you earn. If you don't pay it back within a certain number of years it gets wiped. Before the last major increase it was viewed by most of my peers (I graduated in 2013) as re…
It's actually better to think of the UK loans as a graduate tax - and in that way it's pretty progressive. You pay 9% extra from when you earn over 25k a year (IIRC). So those who need a degree to go into lower paying, yet skilled, professions (nursing, teaching) can do so easily safe in the knowledge that yes, there's this big sum of money that they "owe" but it'll only be taken once they are earning an OK salary, a…
If you make 50k, have a child, and have a student loan, your marginal tax rate becomes 62%, that's 40% (income) +2% (NI) +9% (Loan) + 11% (child benefit reduction). I don't think that's progressive, I think it's excessive taxation.
Did your sources distinguish Norway's Gini coefficient before and after taxes? My impression is that marginal taxation here is massive, since we have a sales tax of 25% (consumption tax, effectively), high taxes on luxury goods (cars especially), wealth tax of 0.85% of net worth every year and capital gains tax of 30% with no exemption for long-term holdings. The marginal tax rate on income is 46% IIRC, but your empl…
"wealth tax of 0.85% of net worth every year" Interesting. That's very much in line with what my experiments showed: just on a computer model of incredibly primitive 'economics', you can use an incredibly tiny wealth tax to redistributive effect. I think you can even ditch a lot of sales, income tax etc. if you're prepared to do a wealth tax. It seems to be very effective but this is the first I've heard of it actual…
It's not that uncommon. Many Swiss cantons have a progressive wealth tax. France used to have one but it's now limited to real estate holdings.
> Aarnes’ hourly pay starts at 164 Norwegian kroner (around $20), increasing for weekend and evening shifts. After taxes (which are comparatively high in Scandinavia) he’s left with around 14,000 kroner ($1700) a month, of which he sets aside half for rent, travel and bills and uses the rest for “whatever else” he likes. The likely reason why he can earn this much with a supermarket job is because everyone else has m…
> The likely reason why he can earn this much with a supermarket job is because everyone else has more disposable income, which means it's easier to make products more expensive and to afford to pay higher salaries for such jobs. Prices also show this. If you want to go get a couple of beers in Oslo you’ll find $10-15 to be normal in central parts of town ($10 average for the city). Nominal wages don’t say much. Purc…
Norwegians even travel to Sweden just to stock up on alcohol, and booze isn't exactly cheap in Sweden.
While not as bad off as the US, we are still seeing similar trends. They still can't afford to buy apartments until their 30s if they have good jobs, while their parents bought houses at the age of 20 working as factory drones.
It almost seems like city centres are not finite. Who would have thought?
>It almost seems like city centres are not finite. Who would have thought?
As a Spaniard who has discussed this in lenght with many other Europeans[1], it really seems like the US is the main country with the University debt issue. I also really believe that "score inflation" is a big issue mainly in the US. If everyone can finish University, then having a university title becomes pointless! [2] In Spain, Germany, France, Italy, etc if you get a degree in STEM it means you put a lot of effo…
> If everyone can finish University, then having a university title becomes pointless! Only if the value of a degree is having an edge over others, not if it's value is learning - primary school isn't pointless even though most people master it. This feels like it links back to the same problem as everything else - as time goes on automation removes less skilled jobs, and more and more people will need to do more ski…
> This means that at some point, university levels of education will probably become necessary for any employment
My father had been the safety laboratory lead at a Hungarian pharmeutical company from 1989 till his retirement about ten years ago (could be a little less). What he told me about has stuck with me: when he started, he could hire people from vocational high schools but by the end, everything they used became so complex he could only hire people with university degrees.
> In the US, kids are seen at worst a nuisance and at best a personal luxury. Please, if you may, explain why you think this is so.
I think so mainly because of the near total lack of societal support of bringing them up to be educated, responsible adults with opportunities. If you want to have them, fine. But then, you better be prepared to be able to pay for health care, child care and college. Without maternal / paternal leave, having kids also puts their parents at a financial and career disadvantage to non-parents, so they are indeed a luxur…
There’s a lot of fear here that giving people something for free means that the people receiving it will abuse it. People who want free education are viewed as “entitled.”
The US is really weird about children, they’re the most important thing in most peoples minds but as soon as they turn 18 they’re dangerous and entitled.
> The likely reason why he can earn this much with a supermarket job is because everyone else has more disposable income, which means it's easier to make products more expensive and to afford to pay higher salaries for such jobs. Prices also show this. If you want to go get a couple of beers in Oslo you’ll find $10-15 to be normal in central parts of town ($10 average for the city). Nominal wages don’t say much. Purc…
Beer might be a bad example, isn't alcohol generally very expensive in Scandinavian countries? (Though indeed cost of living is probably on the higher side)
Yes half of or more of the unreasonable $15 beer is likely taxes. But that pizza slice you take with it is another $15...
> The likely reason why he can earn this much with a supermarket job is because everyone else has more disposable income, which means it's easier to make products more expensive and to afford to pay higher salaries for such jobs. Prices also show this. If you want to go get a couple of beers in Oslo you’ll find $10-15 to be normal in central parts of town ($10 average for the city). Nominal wages don’t say much. Purc…
Beer might be a bad example, isn't alcohol generally very expensive in Scandinavian countries? (Though indeed cost of living is probably on the higher side)
A cup of coffee will be around 35,- (4-5 USD). I think the main thing people often miss is that the price floor is high, but the ceiling isn't too far either. I always recommend tourists to go for the second-most expensive option in Norway - as a general rule. The cheap option is going to be expensive anyway, but the expensive option is likely to be very high quality - and relatively cheap (even including the high VAT).
And yes, taxes on sugar and alcohol adds to high prices for alcohol.