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There is no Economics 101 because unlike Physics it is no science with facts and everything. There are just a lot of theories around and the system is full of bugs and problems, which is why we are desperately trying to keep it going somehow by applying one band-aid after another.
It IS a science, it is a science Neuling - they'll even show you some graphs and equations to prove it.
(Until, of course, all those equations go bust and the government is required to intervene)))) )
Sorry, Neuling, on this one you have go review your Economics 101. There is no free lunch. Even if you stand on your head and spin around. Which is what you are, in effect, doing what that type of response.
Income inequality is currently a problem because, in the new global supply-side economy, people with average incomes find it increasingly difficult to afford, without going into lifelong debt, to buy all the gadgets that industry is producing at ever lower labor costs, not to mention vital services such as health, education and retirement.
The pace has to slow down and, guess what, it is. The usefulness of current monetary policy has just about run its course (ask Japan), but the risk is more cockamamie fiscal and social policies, standing on our heads and spinning around with wish lists. It doesn't work that way.
So the point being, the US is really not a nation, although it claims to be.
Really? I never heard of such a thing. Seriously. I never heard of such a thing.
The US claims, or used to claim, to be a collection of people governed by the rule of law (e pluribus unum). Period. The rule of law.
And isn't that what the current hullabaloo is all about?
I have lived in both the US and Europe, cities and countryside, for decades each, and I find the cost of living, including taxes, to be less in the US, in my current situation.
But each one has his own measure, fair enough. There were times when for me it was the other way around.
And I hope the two continents in general maintain both their similarities and their differences, in more or less and shifting measure, and the US and European states maintain their similarities and their differences amongst themselves, in more or less and shifting measure, and that both continents, together and separately, face fierce global economic, social and military competition.
It makes for a more honest world, as honest as one could reasonably expect human beings to be, a world with more choice, and certainly a more dynamic world, which is the very definition of life: movement and risk.
A world where "brains" can choose to go where each one feels it is better treated and has the best opportunity.
And so no whining and complaining!
Thanks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AFP
Her gestures were very entertaining.
Yes, they were.
Big, steely balls.
Still the best man we've got, on either side of the Atlantic ... [bandwidth]
This guy here (post #35) explained it all rather nicely, why in Europe you "don't see people over the age of 75 working at McDonald's or dying at young age" - the underlying reason of it all, and substantial difference between the US and European states;
" One of the factors some studies have pointed to for a popular welfare state is having a population that believes in a shared social contract. A sudden change in the make up of a population can undermine faith in that social contract and people then demand less money be contributed to welfare via the ballot box.
So in short if you feel your tax money is being spent on people you cannot identify with, you are less likely to want to contribute. "
So the point being, the US is really not a nation, although it claims to be. But European states are still trying to retain their national identity. And THAT is a problem, that the US intends to fix as far as I can see. Because any socialist proclivities need to be abolished at the end, in order to facilitate the flow of money in the world in one and one designated direction only, with highest concentration point in the US banks, ( I would guess) because he who controls the money controls the world.
Then this guy makes yet another interesting point;
Hmmm... lemmi think here for a moment. So the three Arab nations that have been destroyed one after another - all were with Socialist proclivities and that means protectionist policies towards such precious commodity as oil (and all three happened to have it.) So.. one was bombed under the pretext of "WMD," another one - because of the bloody dictator, and yet another one - may be not bloody but whatever dictator Assad was identified as. So three countries with socialist proclivities were down, and now the desperate population of these mentioned above countries starts making a run ( en mass) to the shores of yet another place with Socialist proclivities - namely Europe. And this huge crowd running there are precisely the people that Europeans "cannot identify with."
And then - then I read something like this;
"WILL: Yes, there will. And if we had any way to stop the fighting in Syria, we should do it. But I don't think we do. Remember, at the end of the second world war, there were about 15 million displaced people in Europe. Ten years later, there were essentially none. We've handled crises like this before.
Hint; Europeans, learn our "traditions of assimilation" and quit all this socialist nonsense, or better else - slide into chaos and destruction all together, since we know what has been slipped under your door with all the mosques and "freedom fighters."
I find it all extremely interesting to say the least....
Here in Italy aside for healthcare, I don't see many remnants of socialism, really. Students have to pay 300 euros a month for half a room, many people work endlessly for very little, an elementary school teacher earns 1000 euros a month (contrary to the rest of western europe), and short-term contracts with no kind of security are becoming the norm for youths (ie people under 50) and soon-to-be-retired (ie people over 50).
Maybe it is better to say the US is one nation (in the political sense), but not one people. With most European countries they are both one nation and one people. In the US it is like everyone against everyone, whites against blacks against Latinos against Asians etc. Everyone is so busy with their career and money and appearance. I suppose immigration has a lot to do with that, it brings together diverse people who don't have historical or other ties. As long as immigration is modest, immigrants can be absorbed and turned into a member of the same people. But when immigration is too much, immigrants stick together and build parallel societies, which is a bad development from a European perspective.
Here in Italy aside for healthcare, I don't see many remnants of socialism, really. Students have to pay 300 euros a month for half a room, many people work endlessly for very little, an elementary school teacher earns 1000 euros a month (contrary to the rest of western europe), and short-term contracts with no kind of security are becoming the norm for youths (ie people under 50) and soon-to-be-retired (ie people over 50).
Guess we'll soon be all the same !
I don't know the Italian healthcare system, but universal healthcare has nothing to do with Socialism.
School teachers earn too little in most countries, while scum earns way too much. It is a symptom of our screwed-up priorities.
It makes for a more honest world, as honest as one could reasonably expect human beings to be, a world with more choice, and certainly a more dynamic world, which is the very definition of life: movement and risk.
A world where "brains" can choose to go where each one feels it is better treated and has the best opportunity.
And so no whining and complaining!
I don't share those views at all. Where did you get that definition of life?
To the contrary, most people beyond 25 or so want a stable life so they can settle down and have their families without worrying about risks etc.
Don't put it as if brain drain were about giving people the choice to go where they want. It is mere egoism on the part of the receiving, i.e. benefiting countries and companies. If a country were interested in the freedom of choice of people in other countries, it would give that choice to everyone. But that is not the case, it is cherry picking. And unfair at that because it is countries and companies which are already richer and can thus simply offer more money to "buy" certain people, thus aggravating the differences further instead of helping to equalize conditions around the world.
Brain drain has been occurring for centuries as people with skills and abilities go to where those skills are best compensated. We see in the USA brain drain to areas with thriving economies such as those involved in tech. People will often go work where they make the most and then go back to their home state or a lower cost locale when they retire. Now that it's easier to do similar in Europe, you are seeing the same. My impression is that Portugal is similar to Spain which has a wonderful lifestyle but not necessarily the most efficient.
I think in times when so many things are globalized, we also need global rules to prevent certain developments. Not only in terms of brain drain, but also in terms of taxation, migration, etc.
Currently every country, especially the wealthier ones, only tries to benefit as much as possible while giving as little as possible.
Brain drain within a county is different from international brain drain.
And no, most people do not go where they make the most, at least not in Europe. Most stay where their family and friends are. Nor do they retire anywhere else just because it would be cheaper. That is typical of the US. Here old people want to live were young people want to live, i.e. in the city.
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