You answered my questions about the neighbor's kid with a question about lawn and poop service companies (which hopefully puts them between you and the problem, but only if they are solvent and responsible). My questions were trying to illustrate the absurdity of our laws and regulations, but individually the questions are not really absurd. It seems that the word "hire" has almost come to mean "adopt". Stosh
Is your 50% including VAT taxes and sales taxes or just income tax? Many of us here pay 40% income tax, plus 15% social security and medicare tax, plus 10% sales tax, plus real estate taxes, etc. Beyond that Americans have been and are living beyond their means, we have government that encourages DEBT and sets a great example of how to borrow and waste the most possible, without ever repaying any of it. What Americans DON'T need is credit, and more debt. What they need is to produce and sell at least as much as they consume. Funny how so few economists or government folk say anything like that. Maybe I'm just wrong, huh?
Of course the laws can seem to be absurd... but those are for "employees"... not the same as having someone do an "odd job" for you.
No, I think you are correct. One of the major platforms/promises of politicians is that "you will be better off financially if you elect me"... Overborrowing, overspending, onverconsuming all give the appearance of "doing better" because you have more stuff and services, vacations, etc, so Gummint encourages excess... not the same as having more wealth.
Americans are far more optimistic about their ability to earn in the future. Europeans lack that optimism. Beyond that, the government has been making it pretty clear over the past year that if you save you will be punished. Worse, when all this "stimulus" finally leads to a currency crisis, the wealth of the savers will be confiscated outright to pay off government creditors and/or will be taxed away via the hyperinflation that will accompany the crisis. So, either you spend your money and default on your debt when things get rough or you scrimp and save and the government will either take it from you indirectly via inflation or directly through taxation (a deficit is a tax too). As you can see, the government rewards default and punishes prudence and saving. I learned the hard way. I was a save my whole life and sacrificed instant gratification to live well within my means. It's futile. Our taxes are ridiculously high. The corporate tax rate is much higher than Europe's. Also, 25% of the GDP is produced in the Los Angeles and NYC area and those are two of the highest tax areas in the country. Between State, City and Federal, NYC taxes are around 50% - and that's before you add in the 9% sales tax, the 19% property tax, excise taxes and social security taxes.
Spot on! Just as the vet says of my Husky, "it's all about HIM, isn't it"? ... In America it's "all about the Gummint"... As we pursue the policies of ever bigger Gummint and ever greater Gummint spending, the future of America looks ever more grim. NObama wants to increase Gummint's take, increase Gummint's spending, and to "redistribute the pie"... that will exacerbate America's demise. America doesn't need more Socialism, nor more Gummint. America needs SMALLER, different government to reduce its burden on society. But Gummint makes the rules and likes things as they are. And when Gummint gets TOO big and TOO powerful, it dominates everyone's life... Our future looks darker by the moment...
http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Yearly_working_time.jpg Sorry to burst your bubble, but the facts donât support your argument. Fact is that even though Americans watch so much t.v. they work some of the longest hours out of any country.
I live in Maryland outside DC in the supposedly the 12th richest county in the country. Nobody I know seems to be doing all that well right now. Thatâs great if you guys are saving righ now. Now is the time to do that. I wish I had $10 million right now. Iâd be buying everything in sight. Think about it, real estate is probably on sale for 30-50% off right now, or more. Stocks are 50% off right now. You could probably buy a lot of bad debt out there for pennyâs on the dollar. You could open a store somewhere and probably negotiate a very good long term lease. A lot of opportunities right now. I just have almost no money right now. When you have the money, the opportunity isnât there, when the opportunity is there, you never seem to have the money. I have actually heard that the non metropolitan areas offer a lot of opportunities. Where I live pretty much most of the higher income jobs are either in the government, or tech/science areas. So if you arenât in these fields, chances are youâre not doing very well and hit doubly by the higher cost of living in this area. I guess other areaâs just act like normal economies where thereâs a little something for everybody.
Your attitude is very typical of a baby boomer. While some in my generation may have an entitlement mentality, I contend that your generation didnât need one because you were already given the things that we (not me necessarily) think weâre owed. NEWS FLASH!! All of you baby boomers, buying a home 30 years ago for 25k and then selling it a few years later for 100k and rolling that into a new 200k home that is now worth 800k doesnât make you any more hard working than anybody else. You got lucky and benefited greatly from the massive inflation boom of the past 30 years that my generation is now paying for. This goes for the stock market too. Just because you bought the Dow at 500, 30 years ago, doesnât make you an investing genius. Again you got lucky and benefited from what other people are paying for. If I told you the Dow would be at 200,000 in 30 years, you would think Iâm crazy, but thatâs exactly what itâs done. In your generation a father could work at the local factory and support his whole family. Now, mom and dad both have to work and still canât seem to pay the bills. When my parents went to college, they worked part time jobs and graduated with no debt. Now, not only do people have to take out student loans to pay for all of their tuition, but they have to use the credit cards to supplement their living expenses because their part time job doesnât even cover that. My mom worked at a grocery store 30 years ago and after a few years made $12 an hour. I worked at that same store a few years ago in high school and very luckily ended up making $9.50. Even if I stayed there for several years, the most I could have ever made was probably $12. In 30 years the pay stayed exactly the same. Except $12 back then is probably about $50 now. So you see how this could lead to an entitlement attitude. People are working so hard and yet canât get ahead. Meanwhile everybody else seems to be getting a bailout. As far as me. My parents couldnât afford to give me much because my mom stayed home with us. I think I was naturally born with a work ethic, but Iâm sure they would have instilled it into me anyways. I started deliverying newspapers when I was 11. But now Iâm broke and donât have much hope. I have worked many 60-80 hour weeks over the past 6 years and have not been able to have anything succeed. Itâs ok that I havenât made it in the business world, Iâll try again. But in the meantime, I have seen the cost of living go higher and higher, meanwhile the job market is almost non existent. The Washington Post job section used to be 10-15 pages, this week, 2. If I canât get a decent job, I canât save money to invest and start a business. I donât want a handout, just equal opportunity. Bring back good jobs and stop inflating the money so that prices remain steady, and I bet youâll see the savings rate increase.