4 ms·
These across-the-board mandated policies do impose a cost, they make the economy as a whole less flexible and decrease employment, at the margin. For example,
by pirate787 5y ago
These across-the-board mandated policies do impose a cost, they make the economy as a whole less flexible and decrease employment, at the margin. For example, Belgium has both higher unemployment and lower per capita income than the United States.
- elric 5y agoSure they have a cost, but you fail to mention the benefits. We have a lot less poverty and far fewer people having to work a second job to make ends meet. You win some, you lose some.
- etripe 5y ago> higher unemployment Yes, but the US also measures unemployment differently. People are culled from those statistics much faster in the US than in Belgium. > lower per capita income True, but that's not caused by indexation of wages (COLA) alone - I'm not even sure it's a statistically that significant. It's down to a combination of factors, such as market size, startup culture, taxation, social welfare... > These across-the-board mandated policies do impose a cost, they make the economy as a whole less flexible and decrease employment, at the margin. The Belgian economy is less flexible by default, because it's constrained by three languages, seven governments, a total area slightly larger than Maryland and a population roughly equal to Ohio's. Whether it's a cost is debatable, if Belgians on average live almost three years longer, on average have cheaper and better education, etc. If you compare the quality of life [0], Belgium is ahead of the US in many metrics except precisely cost of living,, housing size and wage. All I'm saying is: economical statistics don't paint the whole picture. 0: https://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/belgium/ https://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/belgium/