Quote:
Originally Posted by cupper3
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/04/09...-low-life.html
US has fallen so far in so many areas, that it is only a myth that it is the best country to live in. That myth may slowly sinking as Americans expand their horizons and travel outside of their country, however it is a well known fact, that most Americans have never been outside their own country so how could they have a clue as to what goes on elsewhere.
What a sad situation.
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not sure if following the nortic model would be very smart at all
us debt to GDP ratio....currently about 100% (our national debt is equal to the gdp (ballpark figures))
norway 210% of its gdp
((((fyi on the other northern Europe countries: finland 215% of its gdp .. sweden 269% of its gdp ..denmark 308% of its gdp.....netherlands 369% of its gdp))))
denmark and norway have high costs of living, ultra high taxes..high crime, and a poverty problem too
denmark is one of the wealthiest countries and has a high poverty rate, especially among imigrents:
17.3% of all Danish children, almost 200,000 in total, were touched by poverty .....that's higher than the USA
hmm the nortic model:
small population...... 4.9 million....smaller than NYC
WHITE RICH population (norway is the second most wealthy country in the world)
22% of their GDP is from OIL EXPORTS
very LIMITED immigration......the usa has 20 million ILLEGAL immigrants and annual legal immigration of legal of about 1.5 million
very limited fast/fried food
norway has a MANDITORY MILITARY OBLIGATION (conscript) for 2 years for males....voluntary for females
another key factor:.....The state has large ownership positions in key industrial sectors, such as the strategic petroleum sector (Statoil and Aker Solutions), hydroelectric energy production (Statkraft), aluminium production (Norsk Hydro), the largest Norwegian bank (DnB NOR), and telecommunication provider (Telenor). The government controls approximately 40% of the stock values at the Oslo Stock Exchange. Norway is a major shipping nation and has the world's 6th largest merchant fleet, with 1,412 Norwegian-owned merchant vessels. The country is richly endowed with natural resources including petroleum, hydropower, fish, forests, and minerals. Large reserves of petroleum and natural gas were discovered in the 1960s, which led to a boom in the economy.
other key factors:
1) They don't manage a world empire and the military it takes to hold it (like the USA does).
2) They don't constantly give their citizen's money away to other countries (like the USA does).
3) Their politician's don't bribe their citizen's into voting for them by promising stupid (and expensive) programs if elected (like the USA does).
4) They drill off-shore like there is no tomorrow (yet the "greens" never mention this) and they tax heavily on it.
5) Their citizen's pay 53 cents per dollar in taxes.
6) They operate on a balanced budget principle that BOTH DEMOCRATS & REPUBLICANS REFUSE TO EMPLOY!
they make their money through ....CAPITALISM
oh and they hhave been having a real tough time with the world wide recession too:
norway is having a lot of financial problems over the last 4 years.......even The Lillehammer factory which has produced the famous Norwegian cheese slicer is bankrupt..... the organizers of Norway's biggest summer music festival have declared bankruptcy for the second time in 3 years.......Sea Launch Company, LLC bankrupt........Absolute Poker owners are bankrupt .......in 2009 more than 140 Norwegian building companies have submitted applications for bankruptcy. It is on 30 % more, than the year before.
while norway was not hit as hard during this world recession..they did feel it
oh and, norway ... ABOLISHED their wealth tax
to sit there and compare or contrast Norway to the usa, would be like comparing apples to automobiles
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