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US takes 'richest nation on earth' crown from Switzerland

thelocal.ch

241–248 of 248 posts

Re: US takes 'richest nation on earth' crown from Switzerland

#241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Generally with this system you wouldnt actually be paying a mortgage in addition to those taxes. Its created to prevent people from accumulating real-estate and renting it.

As opposed to real estate companies sounds like one rule for the "little" people and another for companies. Penalises accidental land lords when you inherit property from your parents grand parents.

Right, right, inheriting mansions from deceased ancestors, a highly frequent occurrence for the “little people.”

Don’t worry, I don’t think we’ll see this apply to too many lower-income (aka little) people in America.

Re: US takes 'richest nation on earth' crown from Switzerland

#242
post #93
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

France has much slower internet on average than the US: https://www.akamai.com/de/de/multimedia/documents/state-of-t... It’s almost as if it’s part of a pattern, where the top 75% in the US do better than France, while the stronger French safety net is better for the bottom 25%.

OP mentioned affordable not top speed. Fiber optical connexion cost +- 30 euros and "unlimitted" 4G LTE mobile data plan cost +- 20 euros(including roaming). It's a lot more affordable than what AT&T or Comcast offer...

Thank you for reading. rayiner has a tendency miss details on occasion.

Re: US takes 'richest nation on earth' crown from Switzerland

#243
post #119
post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s also consistent with the pattern. 75% of Americans have either employer paid insurance or Medicare. For those people, premiums and out of pocket costs are on average less than the extra taxes they’d pay in Europe for health insurance: https://www.assembly.ca.gov/sites/assembly.ca.gov/files/Arch... (page 18, showing 5.2% of household income spent on premiums and out of pocket costs). (Note that France doesn’t h…

> Over a career, the value of tuition free college for the average American comes nowhere near the extra taxes and lower income they’d have in France That's so bullshit. What matter is of course not the difference between tuitions fees than taxes. What's matter is that everybody, even the ones that can't afford the tuitions fees can access university. Which you can in France, which you can not in Europe. I am the liv…

The other side of this is that in the European system many otherwise qualified individuals will never see higher education because there is so much competition for the limited spaces available. I would hazard to guess that most people arguing that US education should be more European would not be able to achieve degrees in such a system anyway due to early test scores precluding them from attending.

Re: US takes 'richest nation on earth' crown from Switzerland

#244
post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Over a career, the value of tuition free college for the average American comes nowhere near the extra taxes and lower income they’d have in France That's so bullshit. What matter is of course not the difference between tuitions fees than taxes. What's matter is that everybody, even the ones that can't afford the tuitions fees can access university. Which you can in France, which you can not in Europe. I am the liv…

The other side of this is that in the European system many otherwise qualified individuals will never see higher education because there is so much competition for the limited spaces available. I would hazard to guess that most people arguing that US education should be more European would not be able to achieve degrees in such a system anyway due to early test scores precluding them from attending.

> The other side of this is that in the European system many otherwise qualified individuals will never see higher education because there is so much competition for the limited spaces available.

I tend to prefer a system where you fail because you are not good enough, to a system where you fail because the pockets of your parents are not deep enough.

Re: US takes 'richest nation on earth' crown from Switzerland

#245
post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The other side of this is that in the European system many otherwise qualified individuals will never see higher education because there is so much competition for the limited spaces available. I would hazard to guess that most people arguing that US education should be more European would not be able to achieve degrees in such a system anyway due to early test scores precluding them from attending.

> The other side of this is that in the European system many otherwise qualified individuals will never see higher education because there is so much competition for the limited spaces available. I tend to prefer a system where you fail because you are not good enough, to a system where you fail because the pockets of your parents are not deep enough.

"Not good enough" is compared to how many slots are available, many of the people forced out could be good enough.

The stories I have been told of difficult classes in the EU are mind-bending. They seem to be incentivizing ~80% of the class to drop out. There is no way the majority of people are not suited for, say, IT. They may not want to do it, but that doesn't mean they are not capable of doing it.

Re: US takes 'richest nation on earth' crown from Switzerland

#246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That’s also consistent with the pattern. 75% of Americans have either employer paid insurance or Medicare. For those people, premiums and out of pocket costs are on average less than the extra taxes they’d pay in Europe for health insurance: https://www.assembly.ca.gov/sites/assembly.ca.gov/files/Arch... . (page 18, showing 5.2% of household income spent on premiums and out of pocket costs). (Note that France doesn…

> I grew up in the lower middle class in France, and I have what's considered great healthcare in the US. In France, I would never think twice before going to the doctor (i.e primary care) when I had a medical issue. In the US, I still think it twice even though my copay is not a big dent in my budget. That’s the point of co-pays, and that’s why France has them. According to the OECD statistics I posted elsewhere in…

A doctor visit in France is 25€, the copay is usually 1€ (or 30% if you don’t have a complementary). My copay on my PCP in the US is $20. That’s not counting what happens if you do blood work, labs, if you go to an ER (where you don’t pay anything in France).

There’s more than an order of magnitude between those two numbers here. You can look at your OECD statistics, or look at the experience of people who’ve actually lived there.

Re: US takes 'richest nation on earth' crown from Switzerland

#247
post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I see how a house can be considered an asset but if you sell your house where do you live? Give the house for rent and live in a smaller house.

Is that smaller house still an asset?

It would be an investment and an asset, yes. If you take a loan for the smaller house you can pay it off using the rent of the bigger house. At the end you will have two houses. It can be a gift to your children as they do not have to struggle in life to buy a house which is a real pain.

Comparing it with education, you cannot transfer education and its value. It will die with you. In IT there is a chance that your education will get outdated really soon with no value. This is similar to the housing market but atleast in this case there is a chance that the market will go up. In case of IT education there is no chance and the value will hit zero. For your retirement a house giving constant rent is I think your most valuable asset as you never know if you outlive your retirement savings.

Re: US takes 'richest nation on earth' crown from Switzerland

#248
post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As opposed to real estate companies sounds like one rule for the "little" people and another for companies. Penalises accidental land lords when you inherit property from your parents grand parents.

Right, right, inheriting mansions from deceased ancestors, a highly frequent occurrence for the “little people.” Don’t worry, I don’t think we’ll see this apply to too many lower-income (aka little) people in America.

Actually it would hit a lot little people who inherit modest homes from parents and grandparents.

And this was about the Dutch tax system.

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