Unlike most millennials, Norway's are rich • Hacker News Board

Re: Unlike most millennials, Norway's are rich

#131

Post by assblaster » Sat, Jul 14, 2018, 11:45 AM UTC

mtgx wrote: post #43

> 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…

Bureaucracy and administrators are the main reason why healthcare costs have risen so much higher than inflation.

Perhaps if we return to a system of minimal government-run healthcare with less regulation (which requires paper pushers) we can reduce healthcare expenses to something that most people can afford out of pocket.

Re: Unlike most millennials, Norway's are rich

#132

Post by chiefalchemist » Sat, Jul 14, 2018, 11:46 AM UTC

> "Norway’s huge oil and gas sector is the clear driving factor behind the nation’s economic boom over the last three decades..."

Norway gets short term rich.

Mother Nature continues to live in poverty.

The masses and the media continue to ignore the aggregate cost of the latter.

#BeamMeUpScotty

Re: Unlike most millennials, Norway's are rich

#133

Post by cosmic_ape » Sat, Jul 14, 2018, 11:48 AM UTC

>>Employers will also have to be more open to attracting international talent to fill the jobs created outside its oil and gas sector, she suggests. On the other hand, young Norwegians “used to being able to work wherever they like” may need to become increasingly “focused on where the skills are needed”...

So she means that while the population is well educated, many do not choose the "right" education?

Re: Unlike most millennials, Norway's are rich

#134

Post by chiefalchemist » Sat, Jul 14, 2018, 11:49 AM UTC

Perhaps I read / skimmed too fast but I felt there wasn't enough mentioned about buying power. Income without context is meaningless.

Making $100k in NYC or London is not the same as $100k in Costa Rica, etc. It's not what you make that matters. It's the ratio between income and living / life costs.

Re: Unlike most millennials, Norway's are rich

#135

Post by ethelward » Sat, Jul 14, 2018, 11:52 AM UTC

skookumchuck wrote: post #88

"Norway’s huge oil and gas sector is the clear driving factor behind the nation’s economic boom over the last three decades" And there it is - a nation sitting on black gold is wealthy.

Like Venezuela, for instance?

You can't deny that Norway adopted a peculiar way of managing its good fortune, IMHO far better that what you can find in Russia, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, etc. It's the only “oil” state I know to be so good at it.

Re: Unlike most millennials, Norway's are rich

#136

Post by walshemj » Sat, Jul 14, 2018, 12:00 PM UTC

gaius wrote: post #59

Deestan wrote: post #9

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.

their parents bought houses at the age of 20 working as factory drones Drones, really? The skill of even a basic assembly line worker dwarfs that of the glorified typing that passes for most middle-class employment. But machine tool operating is often highly skilled work.

I think they meant a line worker not a time served tool setter.

Re: Unlike most millennials, Norway's are rich

#137

Post by heckerhut » Sat, Jul 14, 2018, 12:13 PM UTC

mockingbirdy wrote: post #60

Deestan wrote: post #9

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.

There are a ton of reasons. - Adolescence lasts longer (until mid-20s) which means that people don't grow up so fast anymore. Why? Because of the wealth of the societies they live in. - More people study. Many are around 25-27 when they finally start to work. - Real wages didn't increase although inflation did. - The workforce is divided: Too many marketing experts, but a shortage of craftsmen. Too many people want j…

well said.

Re: Unlike most millennials, Norway's are rich

#138

Post by antpls » Sat, Jul 14, 2018, 12:26 PM UTC

mockingbirdy wrote: post #60

Deestan wrote: post #9

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.

There are a ton of reasons. - Adolescence lasts longer (until mid-20s) which means that people don't grow up so fast anymore. Why? Because of the wealth of the societies they live in. - More people study. Many are around 25-27 when they finally start to work. - Real wages didn't increase although inflation did. - The workforce is divided: Too many marketing experts, but a shortage of craftsmen. Too many people want j…

> I think many don't understand how money works and that money is just a number. So few people think strategically about their salaries and just accept their circumstances.

You should be more humble. You are on an "hacker" website. Did someone say we can't hack money? If you earn 10k a month, that's great, what about sharing it among the people who didn't have the same luck than you?

People aren't born with the same information environment and legacy. Some people can afford to take risks and earn even more while some simply cannot.

Re: Unlike most millennials, Norway's are rich

#139

Post by ipsi » Sat, Jul 14, 2018, 12:37 PM UTC

jonatron wrote: post #123

philjohn wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It goes up to 71% at £100,000+ (then drops again at £123,700), including NI and Student Loans - maybe even over 100%, depending on how much childcare you lose out on.

For example, going from £100,000 to £100,001/year immediately costs you 570 hours/year of free childcare (potentially a couple of thousand pounds per year), and all of your tax-free childcare (potentially over a thousand pounds per year).

Note that this does require _one_ person in a couple to be earning over £100,000, so it's hard to have a lot of sympathy in that case - that certainly doesn't count as struggling! On the other hand, it's also not at all progressive - it comes in all at once, potentially meaning you should refuse a pay rise. It's also _very_ different to the headline tax rate of 40% that you _think_ you're paying...

Re: Unlike most millennials, Norway's are rich

#140

Post by cimmanom » Sat, Jul 14, 2018, 12:38 PM UTC

franciscop wrote: post #15

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…

But if the government isn't going to subsidize learning, in a way you have to give a degree to everyone who "buys" one. Having someone go 6 figures in debt and walk away with nothing is just too destructive.