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So I just wanted to know, why are countries like Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Canada, Australia, etc... All countries with higher taxes, more social benefits and a bigger centralized government more prosperous and have a higher quality of life than the US? Denmark rates 1st for Entrepreneurship while the US is 5th. why isnt that 50% tax rate stopping the Danes?
Of the countries on that list in the top 10 only the Scandinavian countries are socialist.
Interestingly, there is a considerable overlap between the top 10 most prosperous countries on that list and the top 10 most free market countries according to the Cato Institute:
"Hong Kong offers the highest level of economic freedom worldwide, with a score of 9.01 out
of 10. The other top scorers are Singapore (8.68), New Zealand (8.20), Switzerland (8.03),
Australia (7.98), Canada (7.81), Chile (7.77), the United Kingdom (7.71), Mauritius (7.67),
and the United States (7.60). "
It is a good question. The USA clearly lags on every health indicator they use, but still ranks number 1 for health. I suspect they only go by money spent on health. Which is where the USA is far and away the leader -rather than actual results, where America lags.
Spending more means charged more for less. We pay more for the same prescription drugs than anywhere else on the planet. Gee I wonder <cough lobbyist cough> why?
So I just wanted to know, why are countries like Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Canada, Australia, etc... All countries with higher taxes, more social benefits and a bigger centralized government more prosperous and have a higher quality of life than the US? Denmark rates 1st for Entrepreneurship while the US is 5th. why isnt that 50% tax rate stopping the Danes?
It may be due to throwing away trillions in two Asian unWars, foreign bases, and a deficit that is crippling.
Country == Military expenditure (2010) == % of GDP United States == 698,105,000,000 == 0.047
People's Republic of China == 114,300,000,000 == 0.022
Norway == 6,200,000,000 == 0.016
Canada == 21,800,000,000 == 0.015
Sweden == 5,500,000,000 == 0.012
Denmark == 4,330,000,000 == 0.014
Switzerland == 4,000,000,000 == 0.008
So do you think we'd be better off just walking away from those 2 unWars, closing all foreign bases, and downsizing our military budget to that of -say- China? That's a yearly saving of $583,805,000,000.00.
In ten years, what would 5.8 trillion spent on peacetime result in?
[] Electrified Traction Rail, cutting our energy consumption by 95%, and eliminating petroleum imports.
[] Impoverishing Military contractors.
[] Alternative Energy - using present solar instead of past solar (embodied in fossil fuels).
[] Reduced deficits - or no deficits, perhaps.
Spending more means charged more for less. We pay more for the same prescription drugs than anywhere else on the planet. Gee I wonder <cough lobbyist cough> why?
"Free" Americans have to buy permission slips from government licensed people to buy medicines from government licensed people, who buy their stock from government licensed suppliers, who buy their stock from government licensed suppliers.
There is no "right" to medicine, when government criminalizes the unlicensed trade in medicine. And when you need to buy permission, the cost must be higher.
"So I just wanted to know, why are countries like Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Canada, Australia, etc... All countries with higher taxes, more social benefits and a bigger centralized government more prosperous and have a higher quality of life than the US? Denmark rates 1st for Entrepreneurship while the US is 5th. why isnt that 50% tax rate stopping the Danes?"
Denmark has a population that is nearly the same as the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. So maybe we should compare Denmark statistics to that of the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.
Because the authors of these rankings can spin the numbers anyway they want. The fundamental problem with any of these lists even if they are trying to be unbiased is the inconsistency of the data, the second issue becomes how that data is used. If you take the WHO rankings that puts the US at number 32? ...... the methodology is clearly stacked against the US where per capita spending becomes a liability and outcomes have less influence .
Because the authors of these rankings can spin the numbers anyway they want. The fundamental problem with any of these lists even if they are trying to be unbiased is the inconsistency of the data, the second issue becomes how that data is used. If you take the WHO rankings that puts the US at number 32? ...... the methodology is clearly stacked against the US where per capita spending becomes a liability and outcomes have less influence .
But all we have to do is cherry pick the good parts of the massive European social welfare net, keep loose immigration policy in place, keep companies like Fannie/Freddie subsidizing homeownership and maintain our high health ranking and we'll be good to go...right? RIGHT?!?!1!!
So I just wanted to know, why are countries like Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Canada, Australia, etc... All countries with higher taxes, more social benefits and a bigger centralized government more prosperous and have a higher quality of life than the US? Denmark rates 1st for Entrepreneurship while the US is 5th. why isnt that 50% tax rate stopping the Danes?
Answers-
1. high corporate taxes in the US
2. No corporate "consumption tax" in the US, which benefits exporters and punishes net importers
3. open border immigration policy
4. Poor trade deals- NAFTA and China most favored nation trade status have KILLED us.
5. Greater deficit spending in the US. There is nothing wrong with social programs, as long as you can pay for them. The US is GOING BROKE due to wild spending and support of unsustainable social programs.
6. Lower average intelligence in the US. We have tremendous intellectual resources, but we have many dregs on society. The europeans are starting to experience that with the larger and larger Muslim populations. Give them time.
Look at the areas in the US that are of the same ethnic background (northwestern midwest) as northern europe and you have economic prosperity.
But all we have to do is cherry pick the good parts of the massive European social welfare net, keep loose immigration policy in place, keep companies like Fannie/Freddie subsidizing homeownership and maintain our high health ranking and we'll be good to go...right? RIGHT?!?!1!!
What could go wrong?
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And compared to the countries in the OP?
