We're Rich, You're Not. End of Story. • Hacker News Board

Re: We're Rich, You're Not. End of Story.

#11

Post by chrischen » Tue, Nov 03, 2009, 6:42 AM UTC

electromagnetic wrote: post #5

dschobel wrote: post #2

It's fascinating to see how even a nation with a free media can still have total buy-in to an entirely delusional self-image. Scary stuff.

It's a testament to the differences between perception and reality. The NHS in the UK regularly gets poor ratings, in fact they're regularly flat out abysmal on national satisfaction scales, yet all out-patient questionnaire's regularly return with satisfaction rates >90%. People perceive the NHS as this behemoth incapable of performing, but the reality is that it performs amazingly well and provides one of the best…

What you dislike are probably all the bad things that come out of America. The bad things tend to stick in the mind and define things.

Probably doesn't help that America's so big and diverse; there's a lot there to hate.

Re: We're Rich, You're Not. End of Story.

#12

Post by tianaco » Tue, Nov 03, 2009, 6:55 AM UTC

This confirms my brother's stories. He has a penchant for dating Scandinavian women--thusfar he's dated women from Denmark and Norway and has visited them and their families.

Denmark was, of course, expensive by US standards. But upon returning from Norway, he remarked on the absurdly high cost of living. He made lasagna for his Norwegian girlfriend's family and it ended up costing around $60 US--just for the ingredients and a soft drink. Eating out at a burger-type joint ran nearly $100. It's not affordable unless you're absurdly wealthy.

Re: We're Rich, You're Not. End of Story.

#13

Post by hop » Tue, Nov 03, 2009, 7:07 AM UTC

pedrocr wrote: post #4

The statistics are misleading and muddy: - Comparing adjusted disposable income between Scandinavia and the US is highly misleading. The disposable income in Scandinavia doesn't need to cover any healthcare, education and other public services. I wonder how much, if any, the difference is once you adjust for that. - The argument mistakes distribution of wealth with average output per capita. Portugal is in the bottom…

What's murky about purchasing power? Go live in Copenhagen - shits expensive! Plus a 25% sales tax on top and don't even get me started on alcohol...

Re: We're Rich, You're Not. End of Story.

#14

Post by forensic » Tue, Nov 03, 2009, 7:15 AM UTC

hop wrote: post #13

pedrocr wrote: post #4

The statistics are misleading and muddy: - Comparing adjusted disposable income between Scandinavia and the US is highly misleading. The disposable income in Scandinavia doesn't need to cover any healthcare, education and other public services. I wonder how much, if any, the difference is once you adjust for that. - The argument mistakes distribution of wealth with average output per capita. Portugal is in the bottom…

What's murky about purchasing power? Go live in Copenhagen - shits expensive! Plus a 25% sales tax on top and don't even get me started on alcohol...

you're taking a middle class perspective

poor people in the US can't afford pizza. poor people in scandinavia don't really exist.

Re: We're Rich, You're Not. End of Story.

#15

Post by hop » Tue, Nov 03, 2009, 7:27 AM UTC

forensic wrote: post #14

hop wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's murky about purchasing power? Go live in Copenhagen - shits expensive! Plus a 25% sales tax on top and don't even get me started on alcohol...

you're taking a middle class perspective poor people in the US can't afford pizza. poor people in scandinavia don't really exist.

Lets not take it out of perspective - no one will starve here, this isn't Uganda, and Domino's has $5 Pizzas.

Re: We're Rich, You're Not. End of Story.

#16

Post by jjs » Tue, Nov 03, 2009, 7:31 AM UTC

pedrocr wrote: post #4

The statistics are misleading and muddy: - Comparing adjusted disposable income between Scandinavia and the US is highly misleading. The disposable income in Scandinavia doesn't need to cover any healthcare, education and other public services. I wonder how much, if any, the difference is once you adjust for that. - The argument mistakes distribution of wealth with average output per capita. Portugal is in the bottom…

> The disposable income in Scandinavia doesn't need to cover any healthcare, education and other public services.

If the study's honest, those should already be factored into "cost of living", not "disposable income".

Re: We're Rich, You're Not. End of Story.

#17

Post by wisty » Tue, Nov 03, 2009, 7:44 AM UTC

chrischen wrote: post #10

pedrocr wrote: post #4

The statistics are misleading and muddy: - Comparing adjusted disposable income between Scandinavia and the US is highly misleading. The disposable income in Scandinavia doesn't need to cover any healthcare, education and other public services. I wonder how much, if any, the difference is once you adjust for that. - The argument mistakes distribution of wealth with average output per capita. Portugal is in the bottom…

Exactly. Watermelon cost like 50 cents in China, doesn't mean people are wealthier there. Although for some reason the iPhone costs several hundred dollars more... But I'm sure they'll come to their senses soon and lower it.

Domestic goods are cheap, imports are expensive. Import taxes are lower in Hong Kong, but then service expensive.

Re: We're Rich, You're Not. End of Story.

#18

Post by wisty » Tue, Nov 03, 2009, 7:46 AM UTC

hop wrote: post #15

forensic wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you're taking a middle class perspective poor people in the US can't afford pizza. poor people in scandinavia don't really exist.

Lets not take it out of perspective - no one will starve here, this isn't Uganda, and Domino's has $5 Pizzas.

While poor people in Scandinavia (and drugs will ensure that some people are poor) can't afford $30 pizza.

Re: We're Rich, You're Not. End of Story.

#19

Post by fnid » Tue, Nov 03, 2009, 7:48 AM UTC

hop wrote: post #15

forensic wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you're taking a middle class perspective poor people in the US can't afford pizza. poor people in scandinavia don't really exist.

Lets not take it out of perspective - no one will starve here, this isn't Uganda, and Domino's has $5 Pizzas.

Actually, people do in fact starve in the united states every year.

Edit: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr57/nvsr57_14.pdf

Page 33 says roughly 2500 people die of malnutrition and nutritional deficiencies.

Re: We're Rich, You're Not. End of Story.

#20

Post by chrischen » Tue, Nov 03, 2009, 7:50 AM UTC

wisty wrote: post #17

chrischen wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. Watermelon cost like 50 cents in China, doesn't mean people are wealthier there. Although for some reason the iPhone costs several hundred dollars more... But I'm sure they'll come to their senses soon and lower it.

Domestic goods are cheap, imports are expensive. Import taxes are lower in Hong Kong, but then service expensive.

Domestic goods are cheap because the labor is cheap, and because the cost of living is lower.

iPhones are expensive because China Unicom is stupid. Plus, iPhones are made in China, so they're not imported. And the irony is that the imported phones, which originated from China too, actually cost less.