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German credit agency earns millions through unlawful customer manipulation

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Re: German credit agency earns millions through unlawful customer manipulation

#261

Post by Nimitz14 »

mschuster91 wrote: post #183
Nimitz14 wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Switzerland does everything better than Germany with far less taxes. And since we're trading anecdotes I've found US Healthcare to be the best compared to the 3 european countries I've lived in before.

> Switzerland does everything better than Germany with far less taxes. They have the advantage that the country is so small. Us Germans however have to deal with the fact that we have the 5th largest country of Europe of which a lot of is settled and has to be supported by the entire population. And in any case, Swiss taxes aren't that much lower than Germany's either - average tax load in the country is ~29% [1], Ge…

You know Switzerland is all hilly or mountainy right? Building infrastructure is inherently much harder and more expensive and yet Switzerland does a much better job of it. Switzerland is also actually more diverse with it having 3 distinct languages. The federalization via cantons is smart and works well.

I'm certain your two sources are not measuring the same thing. Swiss taxes are much lower. Median income in Germany is 43k which results in a tax rate of 34% in bawu. Median income in Switzerland is 78k, that in Zürich gives a tax rate of roughly 12% (!!!). Of course in Switzerland all health insurance is private so you end up having to pay more but this does not increase with more income!

Anyways the idea that the tax burden is the same is completely laughable.

Re: German credit agency earns millions through unlawful customer manipulation

#262

Post by graemep »

carstenhag wrote: post #242
graemep wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Germans are typically complaining from a high level. Do Germans share the British tendency to think everything is better in the rest of the world? As an immigrant (as a child, admittedly) and someone who has lived and worked elsewhere and, more importantly, does not completely share this aspect of the culture, I find British pessimism and self-flagellation really, really annoying.

Germans unfortunately like to complain a lot. Many things are better elsewhere, is claimed. Except for many other countries nearby. And the weirdos from UK leaving EU. And the weirdos from US with Trump. And we have it so bad, so bad. Sometimes I hate my fellow Germans.

Nice to know its not just us!

Re: German credit agency earns millions through unlawful customer manipulation

#263

Post by graemep »

Nextgrid wrote: post #202
graemep wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The UK tax system (like many others) is not as fair or progressive as it is presented to be. 1. NI means that the real standard rate on earned income is substantially higher than the "income tax" rate. it is also not fair that unearned income is exempt from it. 2. Lots of purchase taxes, which are disproportionately paid by people with moderate incomes. People on low incomes spend a higher proportion in necessities w…

> seem not to realise how things operate in most other developed countries Genuine question, what do other countries do differently? The way I see it (and described in my original comment) is that the underlying factors behind the decline of government services (no accountability, no incentive to use tax money efficiently) are common across many countries. Some countries may get away with it for now because they're s…

Look at most continental European systems, or developed Asia - some form of government backed insurance is usual:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_health_insurance

Singapore has an individual fund system if I understand it correctly, and that provides extremely good value for money.

One big difference is that these systems are less centralised and therefore less bureaucratic, less prone to political tinkering, and they reduce the problems of lack of accountability and incentives for efficiency.

Re: German credit agency earns millions through unlawful customer manipulation

#264

Post by Beijinger »

illiac786 wrote: post #256
Beijinger wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Germany, 75% of Ukrainians don't work. In other EU countries, nearly 80% work. It is a question of the system and incentives.

Source? This is interesting.

The integration of Ukrainian war refugees into the German labor market is sluggish by European standards. This is the result of a recent analysis by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. While just 18% have found a job in Germany, the figure is two thirds or more in countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic and Denmark. The reasons for this are bureaucracy and the wrong incentives.

https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/deutschland/politik/ukrainer-...

Re: German credit agency earns millions through unlawful customer manipulation

#265

Post by Nextgrid »

autoexec wrote: post #217
Nextgrid wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same factor that makes private prisons problematic also makes taxation problematic - in both cases you've got a captive market that can't opt out thus no pressure to provide a good, efficient service. In a hypothetical world where inmates could choose whether to remain in prison and which one to be in, private prisons would be competing for service quality. Actually we've got that, they're just called "hotels". I…

> The same factor that makes private prisons problematic also makes taxation problematic - in both cases you've got a captive market that can't opt out thus no pressure to provide a good, efficient service. What you should have are companies that offer their best prices/services to the government out of fear that they'll be passed over and those highly valuable contracts will be awarded to their competitors who do be…

> What you should have are companies that offer their best prices/services to the government out of fear that they'll be passed over and those highly valuable contracts will be awarded to their competitors who do better.

This requires a functional quality control system. It seems like it's cheaper to undermine/bribe (or just let decay whatever there is) the quality control system than to actually do better.

> because they risk being voted out if people are unhappy with the level of service

Votes only work if people are properly represented and have good alternatives to vote for, which doesn't seem to be the case in most countries despite them being considered democracies. Keep in mind that the leader of the DPRK is also "elected".

Re: German credit agency earns millions through unlawful customer manipulation

#266

Post by mk89 »

iforgotpassword wrote: post #259
mk89 wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a bit unfair what you said and probably you know it - next generations can blame so many things on us today... it's just like history or life works.

Yes I do, and I'm aware the vast majority of them were blissfully unaware, but then again I've talked to enough of them to also hsve learned that many of them simply don't want any of that to be true today. Some form of denial I guess. Like simply claiming the greenhouse effect isn't real, or protesting new wind turbine or high voltage power lines, because they would see them from their big houses with big gardens th…

Wait until you're old and they'll complain that you didn't do enough for XYZ.

We have all the possible available knowledge at our disposal today, right now, and look at how much crap we still do.

Re: German credit agency earns millions through unlawful customer manipulation

#267

Post by albert180 »

jandrewrogers wrote: post #255
albert180 wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uhm no, even the richest households are worse off than the poorest in UK https://www.ft.com/content/653bbb26-8a22-4db3-b43d-c34a0b774...

Nothing in that article actually addresses the point. The average life expectancy where I live is currently 83+, despite notably higher fatal injury rates. In terms of actual medical outcomes -- survival rates for cancer, cardiovascular events, trauma medicine, etc -- the UK is quite a bit worse than the US. The only countries that stand out as consistently competing on medical outcomes are France and Switzerland.

Nope, even the richest Americans don't get better health outcomes than the richer European countries https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullar...

Re: German credit agency earns millions through unlawful customer manipulation

#268

Post by kmlx »

0xFF0123 wrote: post #228
kmlx wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I find it quite disturbing that high taxation is seen as a negative aspect of Europe. after receiving the same services for no or minimal tax i also find it very disturbing that people still think high taxation is necessary.

Where?

hong kong. super low taxes, great public services.

singapore. low-ish taxes, excellent public services.

there are others.

Re: German credit agency earns millions through unlawful customer manipulation

#269

Post by miroljub »

cycomanic wrote: post #232
miroljub wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The limit is ~900 € per month, not ~400 €. People frequently forget the employer matching, which at the end comes from your pocket, since it's mandatory. Also Freelancers and self-employed need to pay full contribution of 900 €, not "just" a half.

No the employers contribution doesn't come out of your pocket. The employers contribution comes out of the employers pocket and is the cost of doing business. That's like arguing the rent for the office space or even the warehouse or servers come out of your salary. Your salary is essentially a function of supply and demand and not a function of cost. I mean, if external costs would influence salary we'd see remote w…

Frog the company perspective, your cost is what they have to pay to get you. That's where the supply & demand gets decided. Everything that reduces your net compensation from that amount comes effectively from your pocket.

Company "contributions" are just a government conspiracy to gaslight you into thinking you pay less taxes & contributions than you actually pay.

Re: German credit agency earns millions through unlawful customer manipulation

#270

Post by illiac786 »

Beijinger wrote: post #264
illiac786 wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Source? This is interesting.

The integration of Ukrainian war refugees into the German labor market is sluggish by European standards. This is the result of a recent analysis by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. While just 18% have found a job in Germany, the figure is two thirds or more in countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic and Denmark. The reasons for this are bureaucracy and the wrong incentives. https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/deutsch…

ok, so it’s not 80% in any country. 74% in Denmark, 2/3 in Poland and Czech Republic.

18% in Germany is also still better than Switzerland and Austria (14%), but I agree it’s not good.

Too much poor processes preventing these people from working, very frustrating.

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