4 ms·

> the cost of a private university is prohibitive for many if not most families The public universities are free and of good quality. Most of the private unive

by qw 13y ago

> the cost of a private university is prohibitive for many if not most families The public universities are free and of good quality. Most of the private universities tend to be more specialized. Some are for students that can't get in to regular studies, and others provide different subjects, such as bachelor degrees in real estate etc. A degree from a public university is not looked down upon because your employer probably studied at a public university too. The only exception I can think of are those who want an MBA. Many of the MBAs I have met went to a private school ("BI"). Education at "BI" in Oslo costs less than $6000 a year and is not out of reach for most families. > the personal income tax has a high lowest-rate (which i believe is 28% The tax pays for public health care, welfare, free education, 49 week paid parental leave (100% of salary) and other benefits. If you compare with another country you need to include this in the cost of living. > gasoline prices are silly--about $13 per gallon (if i did my maths correctly) The price of gasoline is closer to $9 per gallon (15kr per litre), but still too high.

Houshalter 13y ago
>The tax pays for public health care, welfare, free education, 49 week paid parental leave (100% of salary) and other benefits. If you compare with another country you need to include this in the cost of living. None of those things would really benefit someone who only lived there for a year though.
- chii 13y ago
  > None of those things would really benefit someone who only lived there for a year though. of course, but the needs of the many outweight the needs of the few.
- atmosx 13y ago
  That's like saying that owning a Mac didn't benefit you, because you needed a playstation to play some game. Then you go on implying that the Mac is not a good computer.
  - Houshalter 13y ago
    I never implied it wasn't a good computer, er, country. I'm saying it's completely understandable why GP would be upset at the country's absurdly high prices and saying "but look at all the stuff it pays for" isn't really relevant to him because he is not a citizen. Most countries do not tax foreigners that much unless they are working in the country. To take the argument further, you could say may actual citizens don't benefit from it, for example if they live healthy, or don't have children, or pay for a private education, etc. Subsidies are rarely fair and create bad incentives.
    - e12e 13y ago
      > To take the argument further, you could say may actual citizens don't benefit from it, for example if they live healthy, or don't have children, or pay for a private education, etc. Subsidies are rarely fair and create bad incentives. "Many citizens" and "Subsidies are rarely fair" seems horribly distorted in the context of free education and health care in Norway. IMNHO you have a rather distorted idea of "fair" if you think that everyone should get the same, rather than that everyone should get what they need (or could benefit from). The two would only ever be the same in some fantasy realm where everyone started out on equal footing.
    - netcan 13y ago
      The biggest tax-and-subsize activity almost everywhere is children. Maternity leave. Schools. Universities. Health related stuff is also often more subsidized and more expensive for children and pregnant women. Norway has a negative (1.88) fertility rate which is typical of Northern European cultures, even with these big subsidies. I wonder what it would be unsubsidized.
- vidarh 13y ago
  Someone who only live there for a year also don't pay most of it. While they are affected by the VAT (which is not that out of line with Europe in general), most people do not spend all of their money on goods that are VAT chargeable. E.g. your rent is not. Last time I calculated the relative cost of taxation between Norway (where I'm from), the UK (where I live), and California (we were considering a move), VAT in Norway would have account for at most about 4% of my total living costs at my salary etc.
vidarh 13y ago
> The price of gasoline is closer to $9 per gallon (15kr per litre), but still too high. Despite that, note that the UK has Norway beat in terms of percent of gasoline price that goes to taxes.

by qw 13y ago

Houshalter 13y ago

>The tax pays for public health care, welfare, free education, 49 week paid parental leave (100% of salary) and other benefits. If you compare with another country you need to include this in the cost of living. None of those things would really benefit someone who only lived there for a year though.

chii 13y ago
> None of those things would really benefit someone who only lived there for a year though. of course, but the needs of the many outweight the needs of the few.
atmosx 13y ago
That's like saying that owning a Mac didn't benefit you, because you needed a playstation to play some game. Then you go on implying that the Mac is not a good computer.
- Houshalter 13y ago
  I never implied it wasn't a good computer, er, country. I'm saying it's completely understandable why GP would be upset at the country's absurdly high prices and saying "but look at all the stuff it pays for" isn't really relevant to him because he is not a citizen. Most countries do not tax foreigners that much unless they are working in the country. To take the argument further, you could say may actual citizens don't benefit from it, for example if they live healthy, or don't have children, or pay for a private education, etc. Subsidies are rarely fair and create bad incentives.
  - e12e 13y ago
    > To take the argument further, you could say may actual citizens don't benefit from it, for example if they live healthy, or don't have children, or pay for a private education, etc. Subsidies are rarely fair and create bad incentives. "Many citizens" and "Subsidies are rarely fair" seems horribly distorted in the context of free education and health care in Norway. IMNHO you have a rather distorted idea of "fair" if you think that everyone should get the same, rather than that everyone should get what they need (or could benefit from). The two would only ever be the same in some fantasy realm where everyone started out on equal footing.
  - netcan 13y ago
    The biggest tax-and-subsize activity almost everywhere is children. Maternity leave. Schools. Universities. Health related stuff is also often more subsidized and more expensive for children and pregnant women. Norway has a negative (1.88) fertility rate which is typical of Northern European cultures, even with these big subsidies. I wonder what it would be unsubsidized.
vidarh 13y ago
Someone who only live there for a year also don't pay most of it. While they are affected by the VAT (which is not that out of line with Europe in general), most people do not spend all of their money on goods that are VAT chargeable. E.g. your rent is not. Last time I calculated the relative cost of taxation between Norway (where I'm from), the UK (where I live), and California (we were considering a move), VAT in Norway would have account for at most about 4% of my total living costs at my salary etc.

vidarh 13y ago

> The price of gasoline is closer to $9 per gallon (15kr per litre), but still too high. Despite that, note that the UK has Norway beat in terms of percent of gasoline price that goes to taxes.