Article:Living in Switzerland ruined me for America and its work culture (kids, teacher)
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As Stan4 put it in Germany by 5-6th grade you are assessed to either go on a vocatinal track and be a mechanic / plumber etc or go on educational track for college which is heavily subsidized and paid. It is difficult to switch from vocational to University track and should you try it the costs will have to be borne by you. So not many people try it.
In USA you wil not be able to implement such a system. Hence school and college graduates with no marketable skill.
That's quite incorrect. In most German states the parents decide which secondary school their children will attend. There are normally three different kinds of secondary schools. But it's misleading to describe the differences as more vocational or more educational. In all states (except Bavaria) it's pretty easy to switch from one type of school to another. If you have finished the "lowest" type of school you can switch to the "highest" type (if your grades are good enough) and get your Abitur. University in Germany is practically free, independent from the school career you have choosen.
It's also important to note that many majors at U.S. colleges aren't taught at German universities. They are instead taught in apprenticeships or colleges of further education. Best example are nurses. Most nurses in Germany have attend the "lowest" type of school.
Swiss and German are known for punctuality... at least it is the stuff of legends.
The schooling is where it really gets drilled into you.
I took a course and the instructor reminded me of the drill sergeant father in the Sound of Music...
I don't know why punctuality is more important for Germans or the Swiss. But it has certainly nothing to do with schooling. When a student has overslept and enter the class room 15 minutes later, he will just say to the teacher, sorry, I have overslept. That's all. At least from what I have heard coming too late to school is somewhat more an issue in the U.S.
The reason for the obsession with punctuality is maybe, that Germans hate it when they have to wait for someone. But I'm not sure about that. I have never thought about that.
Interesting take on Health Care as my friends are Doctors and Nurses both in Austria and in California.
One of the Doctors also drives a truck to make ends meet... his office is the first level of his home... it is beautiful setting and very picturesque... he meets the definition of a country Doctor... even has a Blue Light for his car Opel to make house calls.
Two of my Doctor friends visited me in California in 2012... they were really amazed at the difference in Health Care between our two countries...
The biggest difference is the high level of care provided to Seniors or any age... hip replacements at age 90 and eye surgery to keep a driver's license at 95... things they said simply are not available for those in Austria.
Now where Austria did shine is with well mother and children coverage... all the Moms get a cash payment for just them when their child completes all the childhood vaccines and checkups... also those of working years have good coverage to get them back on the job.
Mind you all of this is prior to Obama Care which mandates that every American have coverage...
As a side note I work with a Doctor that started her career in England... she has so many negative things to say about English Health Care... only hearsay as I have nothing to base it on.
I absolutely don't have any experience with the health care service in the U.S. I have found some statistics. But I have to admit that I don't know how reliable these statistics are and whether they are comparable or not.
In 2010 there were 332,000 hip replacements in the U.S. That's about 110 per 100,000 population.
The main reason for the significant higher health care costs in the U.S. are reportedly much higher costs for comparable hospital and physician services and the U.S. has significant more diagnostical devices per capita than most other countries.
Costs of some services:
Bypass surgery: US: $73,345 vs. $36,509 in Switzerland and just $15,742 in the Netherlands.
Diagnostic imaging prices (MRI): US: $1,145 vs. just $138 in Switzerland.
My perception of U.S. health care services. It's pretty high end. Probably the most technological advanced health care services. More medical staff per capita than in most other countries. And they are much much better paid. Probably a lack of competition between hospitals and other health care service provider. And it's outrageous expensive (in $ terms and as a percentage of GDP). The results doesn't seem to be better than in other developed countries.
I don't know how accurate my perception is. And I also don't know how reliable all those statistics are.
Eurostat, the official organ of EU, is the Pravda of the EU, a bread-and-butter instrument of left-wing multiculturalists suicidal idiots who run the EU.
Eurostat kept lying about Greece, hiding the real numbers, until the whole thing blew up. Currently, Eurostat is also under-reporting migrants from Syria and Middle East.
Did you catch my comment about the Maastricht Debt-to-GDP Ratio Treaty?
It will help you put two-and-two together about Eurostat's under-represented numbers.
Like I said, Eurostat numbers are designed to be fed to the average Joe Shmoe, un-informed individual, not really for any serious consideration, when it comes to economic issues, such as debt, etc.
What's the matter -- OECD, McKinsey numbers which show a much different picture -- these are not good for you?
With such posts you embarrass yourself. What do you think where the OECD or McKinsey get their numbers from? The foundation of their numbers are of course the original values from Eurostat or from national statistical authorities. The question is why the OECD or McKinsey modify the original values? Of course those institutes have their own purposes, and those are surely not well-intended.
With such posts you embarrass yourself. What do you think where the OECD or McKinsey get their numbers from? The foundation of their numbers are of course the original values from Eurostat or from national statistical authorities. The question is why the OECD or McKinsey modify the original values? Of course those institutes have their own purposes, and those are surely not well-intended.
Can you grasp that OECD and McKinsey numbers are different from Eurostat by a factor of 3? That's 300 odd percent.
They are not even close. They do show two very different pictures. I have no embarrassment to tell the truth, however bitter you think it is.
Being delusional, believing the pure BS propaganda Eurostat pushes out there -- that's what people should be embarrassed about.
McKinsey is the most prestigious consulting firm in the world, and you bet that it needs to protect the reputation of its Research.
Eurostat has no interest to have any reputation. Its only reason to exist is to push out garbage that EU leftists fabricate.
well its taken for granted in ireland , personally i like the german approach where something like 40% of high school graduates subsequently enroll in apprenticeships rather than go to university , learning a trade is something which germans place a lot of emphasis on
Talking about Switzerland, it's even much better in Switzerland than in Germany. It's amazing how most mid-size Swiss companies take care about their apprentices. It's quite normal that every apprentice will be introduced on the website of the company. With a photo, their hobbies and in which year of training they are. You can find information about their graduation or about the last apprentice trip.
My perception of U.S. health care services. It's pretty high end. Probably the most technological advanced health care services. More medical staff per capita than in most other countries. And they are much much better paid. Probably a lack of competition between hospitals and other health care service provider. And it's outrageous expensive (in $ terms and as a percentage of GDP). The results doesn't seem to be better than in other developed countries.
I don't know how accurate my perception is. And I also don't know how reliable all those statistics are.
Don't forget Malpractice Insurance Premiums for Docs...
It can run hundreds of thousands of dollars.
My sister in law gave up her surgical practice because she does not emphasize surgery and carrying surgical malpractice insurance was a huge part of her overhead.... spotless record but was not performing enough surgery to justify the premium expense.
As time moves forward I believe the differences in care between Western Europe and the United States will diminish...
We use a lot of Siemens Technology where I work and some of the best medical lasers are sourced from Germany.
Can you grasp that OECD and McKinsey numbers are different from Eurostat by a factor of 3? That's 300 odd percent.
They are not even close. They do show two very different pictures. I have no embarrassment to tell the truth, however bitter you think it is.
Being delusional, believing the pure BS propaganda Eurostat pushes out there -- that's what people should be embarrassed about.
McKinsey is the most prestigious consulting firm in the world, and you bet that it needs to protect the reputation of its Research.
Eurostat has no interest to have any reputation. Its only reason to exist is to push out garbage that EU leftists fabricate.
You are completely unable to comprehend those different statistics. The statistic from Eurostat, that I have mentioned were only for the public debt. The statistic from McKinsey were not only for the public debt but also for private debt (households, non financial corporations and financial corporations). Of course Eurostat has also a statistic about private debt. Pretty sure that you are even unable to understand the difference between these different kinds of debt. Otherwise you wouldn't talk about 300 odd percent.
I was wondering why McKinsey has different figures for public debt than the figures for public debt from Eurostat.
Data from McKinsey and Eurostat for public debt (2014) and the difference:
With the exception of Sweden, McKinsey supposed for all European countries higher public debt to GDP ratios than the original values from Eurostat. Of course McKinsey use the data from Eurostat but they modify them, but no one knows why they do it and how they do it.
Even more astonishing are the differences between the figures from McKinsey for the U.S. and the official data from U.S. statistic authorities. They inflate the data for EU countries but make the figures for the U.S. smaller.
Of course all private research institutes will deliver figures that are in-line to what the client demand. Therefore always use original values and not modified values from questionable research institutes.
That's quite incorrect. In most German states the parents decide which secondary school their children will attend. There are normally three different kinds of secondary schools. But it's misleading to describe the differences as more vocational or more educational.
The information I had came from a friend i knew well who went to Germany to head US company's operations that was situated in a small community in Germany. He had two young kids. He said that the early years were good but as the girl was approaching the 5th grade the teacher talked to them about the school options and that is what I wrote. This was 12 years ago. They decided it was not worth taking chances and be placed in a different school that what they wanted, and moved back to Chicago.
Quote:
In all states (except Bavaria) it's pretty easy to switch from one type of school to another. If you have finished the "lowest" type of school you can switch to the "highest" type (if your grades are good enough) and get your Abitur. University in Germany is practically free, independent from the school career you have chosen.
It's also important to note that many majors at U.S. colleges aren't taught at German universities. They are instead taught in apprenticeships or colleges of further education. Best example are nurses. Most nurses in Germany have attend the "lowest" type of school.
It may not be as easy as what we wish for it to be. If you get into a "more vocational" track you might need to put in much more effort to get the high grades need to make the switch since all your peers are not interested in that track. Peer pressure makes you excel.
I am not saying that one system is better than the other. In fact I do wish some high schoolers in USA be given more opportunities to attend a vocational school since they are not cut out for college or interested in the traditional college. But such opportunities are few and hence they waste 4 years partying in college obtaining a useless degree in sociology / political science psychology which does nto lead them to any jobs.
One reason for less acute care beds and correspondingly less discharge rates in USA is that many procedures that would require a hospitalization for days or weeks at another country is cone as an outpatient here in USA. An example is autologous bone marrows stem cell transplant where one gets their own bone marrow stem cells infused. From start to finish, including high dose chemotherapy, infusing the cells and waiting for recovery is done as outpatient. Quite often the patient stays in a motel across the cancer center and visits every day for therapy. Costs are lower though one can say that part of it is shifting some costs from hospital and insurance back to patients. Some hospitals have permanently rented blocks of clean rooms in these motels and pays for it since it is cheaper than a hospital bed.
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