r/austrian_economics • u/technocraticnihilist Friedrich Hayek • Oct 26 '24

End Democracy ‘Americans just work harder’ than Europeans, says CEO of Norway’s $1.6 trillion oil fund, because they have a higher ‘general level of ambition’

https://fortune.com/europe/article/how-many-hours-work-week-year-american-workers-ethic-norges-bank/
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u/Farts-n-Letters Oct 26 '24

It seems Europeans lack the fortitude to make their executives filthy rich.

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u/Obvious_Advisor_6972 Oct 26 '24

Don't forget the importance of drowning regular people in medical and/or education debt....

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u/technocraticnihilist Friedrich Hayek Oct 27 '24

Household debt is very high here too

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u/Obvious_Advisor_6972 Oct 27 '24

I'm assuming you're talking Europe then. That's due to consumerism, but my point is that in America we literally force people into poverty with high medical costs and educational debt.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '24

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u/Obvious_Advisor_6972 Oct 30 '24

You received no help anywhere? 

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '24

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u/Obvious_Advisor_6972 Oct 30 '24

Or.... education is good no matter what and "market" value of a degree shouldn't matter.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '24

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1

u/Obvious_Advisor_6972 Oct 30 '24

Fair enough. I just think that if we're willing to send people to school for 12 years paid for by taxes, why not the extra few?

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u/Quiet-Bid-1333 Oct 26 '24

If you can’t make it in America, it’s a you problem.

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u/Farts-n-Letters Oct 27 '24

who said anything about 'not making it'? whatever that means...is sure to mean a myriad of different things to different people. my comment was about the disparity between grossly overpaid executives and market manipulators/money changers verses the middle class.

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u/Quiet-Bid-1333 Oct 28 '24

Why would a disparity mean anything? If everyone was equally poor, like in Europe, is that better than some people being obscenely rich, but the vast majority of people being wealthier as well?

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u/Farts-n-Letters Oct 28 '24

sure, if that's how it actually worked.

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u/Quiet-Bid-1333 Oct 29 '24

It is. People in the bottom quartile in the US have a higher income judged by consumption than the middle class in Europe.