[extropy-chat] FWD [SK] Re: Europe vs America (was Depressing thought....)

[Terry W. Colvin]

> in France/western Europe, or the USA. These numbers and financial
> situational comparisons fascinate me. I would like to write a book
> about this subject, as there is nothing that descibes this adequately,
> that I can find anyway.

He may be interested, but he isn't well informed about US income or taxes.

Total US taxes rates are basically flat:
http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2003/01/20/business/21DOUBLE.chart.jpg
http://slate.msn.com/id/2077294/


US income stats:
Median Household http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/histinc/h06.html
Median Personal  http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/histinc/p05.html
By quintiles household: http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/histinc/h01.html

 Table H-1.  Income Limits for Each Fifth and Top 5 Percent of Households
 (All Races):  1967 to 2001

 (Households as of March of the following year.  Income in current and
 2001 CPI-U-RS adjusted dollars28/)
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                    Lower
                                                                 limit of
                         Upper limit of each fifth (dollars)        top 5
               Number   ---------------------------------------   percent
 Year         (thous.)   Lowest    Second     Third    Fourth   (dollars)
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Current Dollars

 2001           109,297   $17,970   $33,314   $53,000   $83,500  $150,499

Jim Lund

---------------------

> I COMPLETELY AGREE.  And also, by the way, people also live about 3
> years more in France, on average. Correct? This is a subject not in
> the least off-topic here on this list, of course.

Currently France was judged to have the best health system
amongst developed countries, they work the shortest hours and have 
the longest hols. If I had a chance I'd move there tomorrow
from this miserable island where everything is rotting
but for some obscure reason it still have good 
publicity.
 Also, in France,  when their education system
or pensions are attacked they have the guts to go out to the streets
in their millions and put stop to such attempts.

Eva

------------------------

the only problem is that such more effective 
social re-distribution of profits leads to a slow down
in profits and losing competition to other less
socially conscious countries.
So all the social advantages are constantly under attack,
especially at the times of the inevitable economic slow down.
Eg. see the attack at present all over Europe on
the pension provisions and on health and education.
The solutions are ludicrous - making the pensionable age
go up - thereby making sure there are even less
work opportunity for the new generation.
Ofcourse social democracy is preferable to
uncontrolled free-market, but ultimately
it leads to stagflation and disappointment that allows
rightwing conservatives such as Thatcher, Kohl,
Berlusconi Aznar or whats his name in Spain,
so they all can have a go their ways of ruining further
the living standards and working conditions of the population.
I'm afraif capitalism sucks, whichever 
of its methods are applied, the contradictions won't go away.

Eva


-- 
“Only a zit on the wart on the heinie of progress.” Copyright 1992, Frank Rice


Terry W. Colvin, Sierra Vista, Arizona (USA) < fortean1 at mindspring.com >
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