Economics abroad: Denmark surpasses Sweden for world’s highest tax burden

by Anna Brones on

When it comes to choosing a place to live abroad, we all know the Scandinavian countries have it made. The standard of living is high, upper education is subsidized and everyone seems to have a job and a nice living situation. But all of this comes at a price; it’s called taxes.

Sweden has long been known for its high taxes, the highest in the world in fact. But Denmark recently beat out it’s northern neighbor for first place according to Danish newspaper Dagbladet Børsen (a daily business and finance paper). Based on a figure giving by tax authorities in both countries, the Danes have the highest tax burden in the world at 48.4%, compared to the 47.8% that Swedes pay. As an interesting side note, Swedish and Danish salaries are paid in krona and krone; both countries still use their own currencies instead of the euro.

Although the percentages for taxes may seem high for those of us that don’t live in more socialized countries, the Scandinavians certainly aren’t feeling an economic burden; the standards of living in these countries is quite high. In the most recent United Nations Human Development Index, Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden were all ranked in the top 15. Add to that government structures that provide for universal health care and paying near 50% for taxes seems to make a little more sense. Health care, Volvos, vikings, IKEA and moose; who wouldn’t want to live there?

Is the beer too cheap in Britain?

by Justin Glow on

Apparently, some people in Britain are mad because stores are charging less for beer than they are for bottled water.

When I was in parts of Czech Republic and Poland last month, beer was always cheaper than water. And did it affect me? Well, yes, it did — but that’s because I had a hard time discerning which bottles of water were carbonated or not. There were times when I never did figure it out, and if I’m going to drink a bubbly beverage, it’s not going to be water. And you’d have to take out a small personal loan to pay for 7 ounces of Coke Light, so what am I supposed to do? Get the cheapest thing available: beer.

But some people in Britain feel differently. They’re afraid that lowering the cost will increase sales and therefor increase binge drinking. It’s hard, for the most part, to disagree with them — it makes economic sense. If you lower the cost of an item people are regularly buying, chances are they will purchase more of that product.

“Evidence from Finland also suggests a link between price and consumption. There, tax on alcohol was slashed by 40 per cent in 2003,” according to an article by This is London. “Since then, drink sales have soared 11 per cent.”

They are, however, failing to make a link between increased sales and binge drinking. Someone could be buying a bunch of the cheap beer and storing it in their basement for all the government knows. Can you assume that lower cost equals increased consumption? I, for one, welcome the cheap beer.

Related:

Send Your Kids to Money Camps this Summer!

by Adrienne Wilson on

Instead of singing the same sing song tune on how money doesn’t grow on trees send your children packing this summer to a theme camp. Chances of the kiddies hating your guts for trading in their summer vacation at Disney World for a lesson on trading stocks at some educational, economics summer camp runs fairly high, but in the long run they’ll thank you. MSN Money runs an interesting piece on how more parents are giving traditional camps that focus on fun, swimming, and archery the boot, for camps that will sing their sing song tune for them and teach their children how to get more bang for their buck. Things like passive income, leverage, the real estate business or the stock market are topics camps like The Money Camp will cover for more than 600 kids at The Money Camp this summer at its original location in Santa Barbara, Calif. Other camp locations include Calgary, Alberta; Edmonton, Alberta; Mexico City and North Carolina.

So what’s the cost of sending your youngin’s away to learn about needs, wants, and basic economics? According to the article The Money Camp starts at $260 a week for teh first child, but there are several other camps that will teach them all the same and for a lesser price. Millionaire Kids Camp has a two day summer program for $300 and others like the ones sponsored by the North Carolina Bankers Association will send 800 kids to camp courtesy of the state’s banks.

If I knew then what I know now, I would have been begging my parents to send me to a money camp. How lucky is the child that gets to go to Mexico to learn about finances? Ugh!