OV9

dan wrote: Fri Jun 28, 2024 1:39 pm

Sundayjumper wrote: Fri Jun 28, 2024 1:22 pm

duncs500 wrote: Fri Jun 28, 2024 1:03 pm I only saw the Biden bit where he was talking gibberish, it was a car crash. FFS.

For balance, one of trump's claims was that democrats kill babies. Literally. He thinks that abortions are routinely carried out after birth.

He's a fucking idiot and if you support him you're a fucking idiot and if you voted for him you're a fucking idiot. Hows that for balance.

The biggest mistake I made was thinking Americans are like us because they speak the same language, they're really not. At least half of them are fucking idiots.

ZedLeg wrote: Fri Jun 28, 2024 2:09 pm

GG. wrote: Fri Jun 28, 2024 1:59 pm

Mito Man wrote: Fri Jun 28, 2024 11:44 am “ Biden actually wants to prevent tax increases on anyone making less than $400,000, which is the vast majority of taxpayers.”

That’s pretty incredible compared to the mindset here.

Part of the reason they're a third richer than us. Work hard, get paid more, keep more of your money.

All well and good whinging about income inequality but if the UK is equivalent in GDP per capita to pretty much the poorest of US states its hard to say that we have anything like a sensible model of taxation, spending and investment.

I think it's very important to look at income inequality in that scenario tbh. I'd be interested to see if the working poor in the US would prefer a system where they got a better min wage and weren't trapped into jobs for healthcare.

GG. wrote: Fri Jun 28, 2024 3:04 pm

ZedLeg wrote: Fri Jun 28, 2024 2:09 pm

GG. wrote: Fri Jun 28, 2024 1:59 pm

Part of the reason they're a third richer than us. Work hard, get paid more, keep more of your money.

All well and good whinging about income inequality but if the UK is equivalent in GDP per capita to pretty much the poorest of US states its hard to say that we have anything like a sensible model of taxation, spending and investment.

I think it's very important to look at income inequality in that scenario tbh. I'd be interested to see if the working poor in the US would prefer a system where they got a better min wage and weren't trapped into jobs for healthcare.

Yes it would be interesting to survey the average working class American but I'd be very surpised if you found many that would want to swap for our system. Across most industries down to staff working in take away restaurants, Americans are paid much more. Obviously things like healthcare costs will erode some of that but again will be offset by the cheaper cost of living.

KEY POINTS
• The US is around 30% richer than the UK – that means the average American
enjoys more of most goods and services than the average Briton.
• There are some exceptions: British people spend more on clothing and
footwear and consume similar levels of recreation, culture and
education
• Four categories – health, transport, housing, miscellaneous (largely private
insurance) – account for 95% of the American advantage over the UK in
living standards.
• Healthcare spending accounts for 12 of the 30 percentage point gap;
housing 9 percentage points; transport 4 percentage points.
• In the case of healthcare and transport, it can be argued that the US wastes
its economic advantages with socially inefficient and ineffective spending:
• Higher healthcare consumption (even accounting for cost differences)
might buy more convenience for many, but a range of poor social
choices mean that outcomes are on average worse.
• Similarly, with transport, bigger cars and lack of walkability greatly
increase the risk of death or injury on the road.
• The same cannot be said of housing: British people spend a comparable
amount of money, but American dwellings are 60% larger on average.

Nefarious wrote: Fri Jun 28, 2024 3:51 pm Weeeeeelllllll, there's a bit of that, but (presumably just down to a combination of the size of the place, and poor worker rights) average commute times are much greater in the US than the UK. Would I rather spend 2 hours either way in my car or half an hour on public transport? Debatable, but I'd probably chose to grit my teeth and tolerate the loser cruiser.

• Similarly, with transport, bigger cars and lack of walkability greatly
increase the risk of death or injury on the road.
• The same cannot be said of housing: British people spend a comparable
amount of money, but American dwellings are 60% larger on average.