"The Bankrupt Finnish Welfare State" - Best place to live?

[WhiskeyGirl]

Kaj Grüssner writes: Progressives in America are often keen on promoting the European welfare state as an argument for big government, not least in the healthcare debate. They point to European countries, often the social-democratic Nordic countries, as role models, with their universal healthcare, public school system, generous social-safety net, and all the happy people who live there.

This line of argument got a significant boost when Newsweek proclaimed that Finland was the best country in the world to live in, closely followed by Sweden and Switzerland. And of course they are happy. After all, there is no poverty in these great countries, the populace is educated, and people generally don't have a care in the world, because the benevolent government is always there to solve every problem.

Third, with higher education so accessible, it lures thousands of people every year to go for a degree, even though they have no business in the world of academia. This produces a great number of bachelors, masters, and PhDs who don't have any value on the job market because they studied literature, art history, religious studies, or something like that. In many cases, they didn't choose their major because they actually thought it would give them a job; they chose it because it seemed fun or interesting, or it was easier to get into than law school or medical school.

Unemployment among educated people has become a chronic problem. The other side of the coin is that Finland has long had an acute shortage of people with trade skills: carpenters, plumbers, mechanics, and so on — people who can actually provide a valuable service. The shortage has, predictably, driven up prices and prolonged delivery.

Sounds like the US.  Mismatch of skills, lots of spending on education loans, no skills, import more foreigners with science, math, and computer skills.  No more job training programs for the trades.

Any country that wants a universal healthcare system should not look to Finland for an example to follow. One of the real tragedies of this fiasco is the fact that Finland has some of the best private hospitals in the world, but because of our universal healthcare, very few Finnish citizens ever get to benefit from them.

Who will get the best care with central management in Washington?  Congress?  Politicians?  Nothing but leftovers for Main Street?

In Finland, the progressives believe, big government works. So do universal healthcare and public, "free" education. And if Finland can do it, so can the United States. The flaw in that argument is that Finland actually can't do it, no more than Obama can keep his promises.

The Finnish welfare state comes at a price we can't afford. The healthcare system is severely inefficient and costly, and stands in the way of normal people's access to the truly great medical care provided by the private sector. The public education is also very costly and constantly short of money. Textbooks are passed on from generation to generation, everybody learning the same fallacies as the ones before them, provided that books are even readable.

The idea of everyone's right to a university degree has resulted in a very high number of university graduates, but their degrees are often of no value on the job market. Due to high taxes and both the legal and financial risks of employing people, an 8 percent unemployment rate is considered normal. And did I mention that the retirement system is every bit as much of a Ponzi scheme as the US Social Security system, and is on the verge of collapse?

Is high unemployment an Obama goal?  Will 10% unemployment be normal in the US?  Perpetual welfare?  Unemployment?

I do, however, want to end on a positive note. In survey after survey, the Finnish people overwhelmingly favor cutting government spending as a means to get the public finances under control. Previously, the Finnish have not minded paying taxes, but now they are waking up to the fact that raising taxes is not a viable option anymore.

Next year, we Finns go to the polling stations to elect a new parliament. I hope the outcome of the election will reflect this important and new-found realization.

more here - http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article22341.html

The highest tax rates are over 50% and there are high VATs to pay too.  Sound familiar?