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Exactly. The reason Switzerland can live like this is because of the political environment in Europe that allows specialized, regional industries to keep their
by bsbechtel 11y ago
Exactly. The reason Switzerland can live like this is because of the political environment in Europe that allows specialized, regional industries to keep their wealth instead of transferring it to poorer regions through cross-continental benefit programs. Vox, where this was originally posted, posted multiple times about how this is one of the causes of the Greek crisis, but never mentioned Switzerland or the other Nordic countries, just Germany and France. Switzerland's situation is similar to if New York were its own country, and didn't have to pay any federal taxes. Instead, New Yorkers would pay high taxes from their high salaries, mainly from Wall Street, to lift the living standards of only New Yorkers, which costs significantly less than paying for an entire country.
- masklinn 11y ago> The reason Switzerland can live like this Oh bullshit, all of the points enumerated in the article save for average salary (which clearly isn't the article's focus) are equally applicable throughout western and northern europe, except maybe in the UK.
- bsbechtel 11y agoSo you're essentially agreeing with the point that the rich countries (western and northern Europe) can afford to live like this, while the poor countries of Europe suffer through crisis after crisis because they can't afford the social programs their richer neighbors have.