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Poland now 6th-largest EU economy, ahead of Switzerland and Belgium

euronews.com

71–80 of 189 posts

Re: Poland now 6th-largest EU economy, ahead of Switzerland and Belgium

#71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think you realize how absurdly overpriced everything is in the US, which inflate GDP quite a lot... I paid less to build my entire top of the line house in eastern Europe than some American spend on a garage extension and a concrete driveway

What constitutes a top of the line house in Eastern Europe? It's unlikely to be what Mississippians consider top of the line.

We're not talking commie blocks here, nor macmansions, which is what passes for top-of-the-line in a disappointingly large segment of the US.

Re: Poland now 6th-largest EU economy, ahead of Switzerland and Belgium

#73
GDP is a scam and a shit metric. Natural disasters increase GDP and so does pollution because of the money spent cleaning it up.

Poland also has 4x the population of Switzerland.

Normalise the GDP and then let’s start having a conversation. Look at the PPP.

Re: Poland now 6th-largest EU economy, ahead of Switzerland and Belgium

#74
post #13

I spent some time in Poland three years ago and have not stopped talking about it ever since. It stood out from the other Eastern European countries that I visited on that trip. Had a lunch in Warsaw with a German friend who had relocated there. He said it was more Conservative than Germany and there was more freedom of expression. Over forty years of Communist rule and they were never able to pull them away from the…

Wouldn’t „more freedom of expression“ imply less conservative? Or what aspects of conservatism, and what aspects of freedom of expression, are you referring to here?

More conservative if you understand how the term is used. In my experience and observing Poland today, "freedom of expression" is the term favoured by the right wing, denoting that it is OK to spew racist / nationalist nonsense somewhere because a) "FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION" and b) a lot of the public is sadly quite accepting of it. This is what I typically see when people mention Poland and freedom of expression. Because if people call out hatred for what it is, it's censorship.

Re: Poland now 6th-largest EU economy, ahead of Switzerland and Belgium

#75

Poland has earned this. Reputation of Poland is amazing. And the people I've had the luck of meeting at a very early age during a student exchange lived up to that. Poland is an indispensable pillar of the EU, and integrates countries such as UK, Italy, Germany, Greece, Austria, Romania, and many more countries in the east (I just don't want to list all of them here, because it's a slippery slope). And Poland as a so…

Not to remove any merit from Poland, but I think the EU deserves a bit of recognition here.

Re: Poland now 6th-largest EU economy, ahead of Switzerland and Belgium

#76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are not European, are you? I know plenty of working class people working ordinary skilled labor jobs who own their homes and drive decent cars. Some people choose to keep renting because we have strong laws guaranteeing renter's rights. Contracts are often unlimited duration with reasonable prices. Also retiring early is not about the money in your bank account around here. You retire early by using certain gover…

I'm a software engineer in the capital of the supposed #1 EU economy and at best I'd be able to afford a 50sqm flat in a ghetto tier neighborhood. I'm actually moving to Eastern Europe because of this bs

Germany?

I happen to know a few software Engineers living there.

Berlin is pretty expensive, and some had to live in more outskirt areas (Potsdam for example). But none were living in gettho tier neighborhoods.

Re: Poland now 6th-largest EU economy, ahead of Switzerland and Belgium

#77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Is this a weird European version of the "lazy Mexicans" stereotype?

Every economic study shows that the background of immigrants matter.

Least controversial is considerations for their education and human development.

Re: Poland now 6th-largest EU economy, ahead of Switzerland and Belgium

#78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Poorest is a function of per-capita income and larger economy is a function of population. You're comparing different things.

Per capita GDP of Mississippi still puts it in about the middle of the pack of EU countries, despite being the lowest among US states by some margin.

I'm sure that's true but GDP is also not a good metric because for example it includes health care spend.

If MS spends more on insulin than an EU state it improves that metric which is the opposite of what we're trying to measure I imagine.

Re: Poland now 6th-largest EU economy, ahead of Switzerland and Belgium

#79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think you realize how absurdly overpriced everything is in the US, which inflate GDP quite a lot... I paid less to build my entire top of the line house in eastern Europe than some American spend on a garage extension and a concrete driveway

What constitutes a top of the line house in Eastern Europe? It's unlikely to be what Mississippians consider top of the line.

https://www.moderndream.cz/katalog-domu/

Some of these models are pretty modestly priced (~$500k USD) but more modern than any house you'll find in North America until you reach a price point in the several million range. Certainly higher quality, nicer and more modern than any McMansion.

Re: Poland now 6th-largest EU economy, ahead of Switzerland and Belgium

#80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dying in the third-world from cancer means you die. Dying in the US from cancer means you probably will bankrupt your family first, and ultimately die faster due to the financial burden/stress.

Apparently HN commenters have difficulty with the concept of "metrics." What are the numbers? The US system sucks in a lot of ways, but it works OK for most Americans. If you're very poor, you'll have Medicaid and it'll cost you nothing. If you're an average middle class person, you'll have decent health insurance and your costs will be affordable. There's a slice of people in the middle who don't qualify for medicai…

The health care system is the most expensive in the world, while not producing the best life expectancy. It is in fact very much in line with Poland, except if you have $20k/yr in Poland for medical expenses you can expect concierge level treatment. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/life-expectancy-vs-health...
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