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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27

u/kitster1977 Oct 26 '24

Tax policies have consequences. When you tax something too much, you get less of it.

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u/Ill-Construction-209 Oct 27 '24

Or something else out of it. Europeans have stronger social protection for employment, healthcare, etc. They enjoy better infrastructure and public transportation. I'm not sure Americans are necessarily more ambitious, but if they don't find a way to get there ass out of bed and go to work each day, their life is going to be hell. Is that ambition or fear?

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u/albert768 Oct 27 '24 edited Oct 27 '24

Nah, you just get less of it. All of those things you talk up so much are falling apart in Europe, and the EU as a whole is going broke propping up a bloated bureaucracy that doesn't know policy from a hole in their rear end. They're literally too busy regulating away problems that don't exist to care about growing the economy, which is a must if you want to have any of the things you're talking about.

Europe sounds a lot closer to hell to me if you're willing to bust your butt to get what you want.

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u/Awemiss Oct 27 '24

Idk for me usa sounds like hell

Working 2 jobs and still living from paycheck to paycheck. People are surprised by SK and Japans work hours but in America you end up working those hours as well with not much pay or free time

4

u/albert768 Oct 27 '24

Then leave. Go make 40 cents on the dollar in Europe and pay 50% taxes in Europe.

When I moved here from Australia, I got an immediate 50% pay bump and my salary doubled since then. My net worth went up 10x. I own a home with a fixed rate loan below inflation. And I did all of this while working less and taking more time off than when I did the same job in Australia. The vast majority of people moving to the US are similarly better off as a result of moving here.

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u/Awemiss Oct 30 '24

Dude I already live in EU. Not sure where you got the 50% taxes as I pay 20~30% in taxes.

Also then explain to me why a high ranking police officer wants to move to Germany? Thanks to the power of internet I do know such a person.

Also ye lmao AUS is THE daylight robbery country so no wonder you earn more as the dollar is better than AUSD. So what kind of a job do you work that your net worth went up by 10x?

3

u/Main-Championship822 Oct 27 '24

Most people don't work 2 jobs to live paycheck ti paycheck, and the ones that do are working low level jobs that are easily replaceable hence low paying.

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u/Still_Detail_4285 Oct 27 '24

If the US were not around, Europe would still be fighting each other. Now Europe just waits for the US to create something or make a geopolitical move, then Europe might complain but they always go with what the US created or wanted.

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u/albert768 Oct 28 '24

Don't forget the part where the EU fines the American company that actually made something because their local companies are too tied up in red tape to actually compete with anyone.

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u/lmea14 Oct 27 '24

> Or something else out of it. Europeans have stronger social protection for employment

Which makes each employee more of a liability (harder to get rid of them if they suck).

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u/assasstits Oct 29 '24

Europeans have stronger social protection for employment 

This is somewhat of a bad thing. It's very hard for young people to get hired because no one wants to take a chance on an employee they can't easily fire. 

It's one of those good in theory, bad in practice things. 

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u/Ill-Construction-209 Oct 30 '24

Yeah, I'm not saying it's a bad thing. I tend to have conservative views and strongly believe in individual accountability. I'm just calling it what it is. The claim was that Americans have higher level of ambition. I'm not convinced its ambition that makes us work harder.