92% of Americans want to live in Sweden.

[Keronians]

This a rather uninspiring discovery.

Of course the majority of people in the world would prefer that the poor had a higher distribution of wealth. The question asked is literally the equivalent of "Would you prefer to have more money? Or less?" in the minds of most people. It's almost asinine to think this means anything significant.

A low gini coefficient is good for consumer demand.

[Robert Magoo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmEp97yQcRQ

all I have to say

Well, when you're looking for a particular conclusion, of course you'll find it somewhere...

[The Merchant Republics]

This a rather uninspiring discovery.

Of course the majority of people in the world would prefer that the poor had a higher distribution of wealth. The question asked is literally the equivalent of "Would you prefer to have more money? Or less?" in the minds of most people. It's almost asinine to think this means anything significant.

A low gini coefficient is good for consumer demand.

Indeed it is.

In every way it is desirable for their to be low gini coefficient, so asking people whether they'd prefer to have a lower gini or a higher, is an absolutely ridiculous question.

There is really only one justifiable position for supporting a higer gini, and that's where the higher gini is causing high enough growth to be raising the wealth of the poor too, most emerging economies have to go through a period of high gini before they can flatten out and become economically developed.

[Sibirsky]

This.

Also, not all public schools are failures. Some are very good. Our best public schools are better than most private schools. Of course they are "special" schools, with entrance exams and so on.

However, our regular best public schools (geographical entry) are still very, very good.

I'm not quite sure why vouchers aren't allowed in the US.

That, and I'm not quite sure why a child's parents can't choose the public school they want their kid to attend, rather than have to have him go to a particular one.

Some districts allow them.

But agreed on school choice. Not only is it not allowed, it is a serious crime to send your kid to another school.

[Thatius]

Very odd to get 92% of Americans wanting to live in Sweden. An obvious mis-use of a thread title, where we are voting on wealth distribution. Anyways, I don't know anyone who goes around saying they want to live in Sweden. It's nice and all, but PBS is messed up.

[The Mount of Olives]

Well contrary to popular belief Sweden isn't socialist. They have combined capitalism with a high welfare/taxing system. Besides the people only get to keep 40% of their income. Unemployment is a problem even though the real numbers are suppressed by the government, its about 7.2%. Their in the boom side after coming out of a severe recession in the 90s. Inflation is a big problem. But the government pays for most of everything using their welfare program since that's their main budget

[Keronians]

A low gini coefficient is good for consumer demand.

Indeed it is.

In every way it is desirable for their to be low gini coefficient, so asking people whether they'd prefer to have a lower gini or a higher, is an absolutely ridiculous question.

There is really only one justifiable position for supporting a higer gini, and that's where the higher gini is causing high enough growth to be raising the wealth of the poor too, most emerging economies have to go through a period of high gini before they can flatten out and become economically developed.

Sorry, misread you.

There are some people who ask: "why does the gini coefficient matter?".

[Maurepas]

I'd hate the climate of Sweden, and I'd hate having to learn Swedish, but by far I'd prefer the Swedish Government. I often find myself wondering why we don't copy their model, as it seems to be the successful one, from economics to foreign policy, etc.

[Keronians]

Well contrary to popular belief Sweden isn't socialist. They have combined capitalism with a high welfare/taxing system. Besides the people only get to keep 40% of their income. Unemployment is a problem even though the real numbers are suppressed by the government, its about 7.2%. Their in the boom side after coming out of a severe recession in the 90s. Inflation is a big problem. But the government pays for most of everything using their welfare program since that's their main budget

You got the tax the other way around, pal. Though I do agree with you. Tax rates in Sweden are too high.

Source for unemployment? And what definition of unemployment are you using? Housewives, for example, should hardly be defined as unemployed. College students shouldn't be defined as unemployed. And so on. I find it hard to believe that a system which is based around a focus on maximum labour participation, has such a high unemployment rate.

The government most certainly does not pay for most of everything. That's bullshit.

[Keronians]

I'm not quite sure why vouchers aren't allowed in the US.

That, and I'm not quite sure why a child's parents can't choose the public school they want their kid to attend, rather than have to have him go to a particular one.

Some districts allow them.

But agreed on school choice. Not only is it not allowed, it is a serious crime to send your kid to another school.

Idiocy, IMO.

[Maurepas]

I'm not quite sure why vouchers aren't allowed in the US.

That, and I'm not quite sure why a child's parents can't choose the public school they want their kid to attend, rather than have to have him go to a particular one.

Some districts allow them.

But agreed on school choice. Not only is it not allowed, it is a serious crime to send your kid to another school.

I agree, it is wrong for that to be a crime, I think the parents should have the right to send their kid whereever they want. The problem with the voucher system in the US is that too often they are for private institutions that turn out to be scams, they aren't to send your kid to whatever public institution they prefer.

Florida is running into that problem, their idiotic governor decided to make his state a "test pilot" for the voucher system the Tea Party supports, and put the special needs kids on it. And now parents find that their student has a meaningless diploma, or their credits don't transfer, etc.

[Lessnt]

What a glorious past.
We come to a new land.
Steal some of it.
Fight one of the most powerful empires.
In the end we win.
We make a country.
Then take more land.
Then improve our country.
Then we had a civil war.
Oh how bloody that was.
Then we fought some more wars.
Then we fought in the world wars and took advantage of the situation afterward.
Then instead of truly being an empire....we decide to be nice.
Thus we continue to have propaganda thrown at us while we are the most charitable country in the world that helps the world.Much of the donations come from the individuals whom have nothing to gain.
Such a nice wannabe empire we are.
We show individuality.
WE arent like those other powers were use to....we actually let you abuse us without getting all genocidal on you...even though we could....quite easily...

If this massive oversimplification wasn't in response to one of my own it wouldn't be so awkward for me to challenge this characterization...

I enjoyed it.
Mock up your countries past in less than your average paragraph.

[Lessnt]

Some districts allow them.

But agreed on school choice. Not only is it not allowed, it is a serious crime to send your kid to another school.

I agree, it is wrong for that to be a crime, I think the parents should have the right to send their kid whereever they want. The problem with the voucher system in the US is that too often they are for private institutions that turn out to be scams, they aren't to send your kid to whatever public institution they prefer.

Florida is running into that problem, their idiotic governor decided to make his state a "test pilot" for the voucher system the Tea Party supports, and put the special needs kids on it. And now parents find that their student has a meaningless diploma, or their credits don't transfer, etc.

Yep special schools are quite terrible.
High school degrees have been meaningless for quite sometime.

[Robert Magoo]

Some districts allow them.

But agreed on school choice. Not only is it not allowed, it is a serious crime to send your kid to another school.

I agree, it is wrong for that to be a crime, I think the parents should have the right to send their kid whereever they want. The problem with the voucher system in the US is that too often they are for private institutions that turn out to be scams, they aren't to send your kid to whatever public institution they prefer.

Florida is running into that problem, their idiotic governor decided to make his state a "test pilot" for the voucher system the Tea Party supports, and put the special needs kids on it. And now parents find that their student has a meaningless diploma, or their credits don't transfer, etc.

Simple fix: "This voucher is only redeemable at accredited institutions."

[Sibirsky]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmEp97yQcRQ

all I have to say

That is in no way representative of all Americans.

[Rusamov]

I live in Sweden. I guess I should be happy but I really dont want stupid americans to live here

[Maurepas]

I agree, it is wrong for that to be a crime, I think the parents should have the right to send their kid whereever they want. The problem with the voucher system in the US is that too often they are for private institutions that turn out to be scams, they aren't to send your kid to whatever public institution they prefer.

Florida is running into that problem, their idiotic governor decided to make his state a "test pilot" for the voucher system the Tea Party supports, and put the special needs kids on it. And now parents find that their student has a meaningless diploma, or their credits don't transfer, etc.

Simple fix: "This voucher is only redeemable at accredited institutions."

Agreed entirely, but I'm not sure how the Tea Party would handle that. Hell, I think the term "accredited institution" might be an affront to them. Too elitist.

[Sibirsky]

This a rather uninspiring discovery.

Of course the majority of people in the world would prefer that the poor had a higher distribution of wealth. The question asked is literally the equivalent of "Would you prefer to have more money? Or less?" in the minds of most people. It's almost asinine to think this means anything significant.

A low gini coefficient is good for consumer demand.

Our higher gini is meaningless. Our poor, are still better off.

[Lessnt]

I live in Sweden. I guess I should be happy but I really dont want stupid americans to live here

Sorry..but im a dumb american....you just have to love me for that.
So when can I come over?

[Aurora-Nova]

I'd prefer to live in Sweden any day.

[Nansurium]

I saw this covered on PBS Newshour yesterday. This episode.

Now I'll link to the online version of the quiz, against from PBS's website. Before you look at this, bear in mind that the online version is not necessarily "cold canvassed" ... a lot of the respondents would already know the answer from watching the show or indeed reading the page it is on. Here is the quiz that PBS gave to people on the street.

Now, PBS's "research" on the street was completely unscientific. But on their site they link to the study by Michael Norton and Dan Ariely, which is pretty damn scientific.

Here's a link to the pdf from Harvard Business School's site.

92% of Americans, when choosing between the actual wealth distribution of the United States and that of Sweden (without knowing which is which) actually prefer Sweden.

As far as I can tell, the study does not say what proportion of people actually think they're living in Sweden (wealth-distribution wise).

Just tell them Sweden's average temperature and they will all change their minds

[Maurepas]

A low gini coefficient is good for consumer demand.

Our higher gini is meaningless. Our poor, are still better off.

You want your poor the best off. The poor, in a properly distributed wealth system, in a modern post-industrial economy, are the ones that purchase things from malls, grocery stores, etc.

When a company markets a smart phone, it's being marketed to them, if you want a strong economy, those people need lots of employment opportunities, and lots of money in their pockets. At least the way I see it anyway.

[Maurepas]

I live in Sweden. I guess I should be happy but I really dont want stupid americans to live here

That just endears me to want to move there, for the trolling lulz,

[Keronians]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmEp97yQcRQ

all I have to say

There is a funnier one around.

One of the questions was:

"Where was the Berlin Wall?"

"Trust me, I'm thinking; I know this!"

That's just an extract of the full video.

[Keronians]

A low gini coefficient is good for consumer demand.

Our higher gini is meaningless. Our poor, are still better off.

You know that the GDP per capita in Sweden is more than the GDP per capita of the US?