Why Europe Needs Higher Wages

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Mario Draghi is on a mission to fix the European economy - or at least his report might. In this video, we take a look at the economic challenges facing Europe, Draghi's proposed solutions, and his argument for higher wages.
Why Southern Europe is Finally Outperforming Northern Europe: • Why Southern Europe is...
What's Gone Wrong with Sweden's Economy?: • What's Gone Wrong with...
Why Separatists are on the Rise in Spain: • Why Separatists are on...
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1 - www.wsj.com/articles/inflatio...
2 - www.euronews.com/business/202...
3 - www.visualcapitalist.com/visu...
4 - ec.europa.eu/stories/soteu202...
5 - www.ft.com/content/f6200dc5-e...
6 - geopolitique.eu/en/2024/04/16...
00:00 - Introduction
01:08 - Why Europe's Economy is Struggling
05:19 - Higher Wages
06:40 - Better Intra-European Cooperation
07:22 - More Active State
08:06 - Sponsored Content

[@_utahraptor]

As an European I can't disagree

[@maritaschweizer1117]

As an Eurpean I must disagree. To follow Italy means to get Italy' problems. Higher wages in Europe only helps China.

[@undefined6341]

As a European, I can. Wages are fine. It's just that as soon as you receive your wage, 60-70% immediately goes to rent. You know what happens if wages go up? Landlord rubs hands together...

[@martynasg9652]

Wage - price spiral would just go crazy. Inflation would go crazy and we would still be at the exact same spot as we are now except bank accounts would look more impressive

[@Kalimdor199Menegroth]

@@martynasg9652 That is only if wages are raised with a bureaucrats pencil, and not organically, based on overall productivity. However, what Draghi wants is to have both his cake and eat it. The guy essentially wants for people to have higher wages, but at the same time for the states to expand their spending deficits even further. The problem is that without stimulating labor, without tax reduction and without incentives to create higher paid jobs, you can't have higher wages. And indebting future generations even further is not the solution.

[@_utahraptor]

@@undefined6341 that's probably true

[@diogovale700]

Now imagine living in Portugal where the average salary is less then most minimum salaries in Europe, and the prices are basically the same if not higher in some things.

[@PedroPinto-tf9bg]

PORTUGAL CARALHO!!!!

[@misere4]

Had to compare Portugal to Croatia, our cost of living index is almost the same, so I guess I don't have to imagine it.

[@luisfernandotapia451]

How do you survive with that. I live in Spain, near Alentejo and with a much higher salary I still struggle. Can´t believe how it is in the other side of the border.

[@alldee2532]

Now imagine living in Czechia (or anywhere in Eastern Europe) where the average salary is less then most minimum salaries in Europe, and the prices are basically the same if not higher in some things.

[@MundoSportiva]

And then take Croatia where the medial wage is 1057€ but the prices are the same and sometimes higher (supermarkets are more expensive in Croatia than in Germany for example). I really don’t know how people make it through the month

[@joseantoniodepilares6509]

Do you mean to say that making us poorer didn't magically fix the economy? Who would have thought!

[@MrTohawk]

Not spending more than you earn does fix a debt crisis. Who would've thought that debt is bad? The question isn't if but how. Who is to pay for this? And the powers that be don't want to pay their fair share

[@keksentdecker]

the finance minister in my country does 😅😖

[@filipmihalovic2822]

Making you poorer? By having a balanced budget? You have no clue about economics, right?

[@maurice22ravel]

That was not to fix the economy it was to help with Climate Change. Now you can't afford to go on vacation, have several cars, and your carbon lowered as a result. If the EU makes you even poorer you will help the Climate agenda even more as you probably will only travel on public transportation. Just take comfort in the fact that your sacrifice is to help the planet.

[@coolbanana165]

@@filipmihalovic2822 Yeah, austerity caused GDP to stagnate, which makes it harder to reduce debt. Investing to increase GDP makes sense to reduce debt.

[@Lilla88able]

In Italy, we have the same wages of 30 years ago. I'm not kindding! Meanwhile the cost of living has doubled. I'm not an economist, I just know this sucks 😅

[@grace-sw4zx]

I've heard this many times by Italians but it's misleading. In truth, wages in Italy have stagnated on real terms, which means that they have only increased on nominal terms, but the purchasing power remained the same. If wages were the same as 30 years ago and "the cost of living has doubled" as you say, purchasing power would have been cut in half, which is not the case.

[@Lilla88able]

​@@grace-sw4zxWell, cost of living is higher, I can see it with my eyes. Maybe it's not as "bad" as we believe it, it can definitely be better tho

[@tobiasphilippwittlinger8753]

You are surely no economist!

[@tobiasphilippwittlinger8753]

What we need is tax and fee cuts! The state is the problem not the private sector! Low incomes should not be taxed at all, consume taxes should be cut by at least 50%. The rich should pay their fair share but most importantly the states must use our money wisely plus when they dont have enough, they can borrow it, as it used to be! I desperately want Europeans to have more money! But let us do in the right!

[@Lilla88able]

@@tobiasphilippwittlinger8753 oh the genius has arrived! I've never claimed to have a solution dude

[@startobyman]

High wages means higher consumption which will grow tertiary industries eg Services. Higher wages allows for higher spending full stop. Europe and the UK needs this desperately imo

[@mennowolters3359]

True, but higher wages also means higher production cost and higher service cost, most companies make costomers pay for those cost. Its a difficult problem.

[@lol2121-hy4cw]

I agree with you as a scientist 30k-35k GBP as BMS in UK while in USA its like 84k USD averagely and usually 30k bonuses that's a quick google search on medical industry. UK wants to be a superpower in science, pay more and recruit more. Otherwise, as George Freeman said, our science ministry that the UK is not a scientific superpower and won't become one.

[@pistolen87]

'There are no solutions. There are only trade-offs.' - Thomas Sowell

[@karimabidi8312]

Well, try to explain that to "experts" like Christian neoliberalism Lindner

[@karimabidi8312]

​@@mennowolters3359we already pay a lot without high wages lol

[@SageThyme23]

nice to see someone with influence finally realise the death spiral austerity has put us on. The common person needs to be at the centre of our economies not corporations

[@tobiasphilippwittlinger8753]

So why dont we free the common person from the tax madness?

[@iwiffitthitotonacc4673]

​@@tobiasphilippwittlinger8753The common person, as in the poorest 51%? I agree, the poorest 51% should not pay income taxes, this will help them have more disposable income and move up the economic ladder. The richest 49% do not constitute "the common person" and should thus continue to pay an income tax.

[@tobiasphilippwittlinger8753]

@@iwiffitthitotonacc4673 I agree as well!

[@_o..o_1871]

@@tobiasphilippwittlinger8753Ask the corpos

[@XIIchiron78]

Demand creates the economy. Supply side economics is a cancer.

[@matteofalduto766]

My feeling is that in Italy, for example, labor is taxed too highly, while property relatively too low. We should shift taxation out of worker incomes to rise employment and spending power.

[@footballuniverse6522]

esatto ma figurati se i nostri politici hanno le palle di fare grossi cambiamenti

[@Bleilock1]

Honestly whole world should abandon income tax and start a dividend tax Screw the capitalism

[@benghiskahn3673]

Same in the UK. Property is the thing that is really killing European disposable incomes. So much investment goes into property speculation, which forces up prices and rents, whilst rental income and gains on property sales are much lower than earned income.

[@SuperLusername]

Most countries have dividend tax​@@Bleilock1

[@danield2836]

@@footballuniverse6522 darei la "colpa" al popolo in questo caso ;)

[@pistolen87]

Most important part of the video is about the difference between EU and USA borrowing cost. No other country can borrow as much as the US without being punished by global capital markets.

[@panter82]

true, but Europe/Euro denominated debt is a close second to the US.

[@tylerclayton6081]

The US also has a much larger GDP and total wealth than any other country as well, so they have more money to work with. Both China and the US invest a lot into themselves by borrowing money Especially China, their total debt to GDP ratio is already at above 300%. And they’re not even a developed country yet. That’s even Higher than the USA’s 250% total debt to GDP ratio. Japan’s is over 300% as well Europe needs to invest more money into their economy and corporations. Companies from the US and China get huge subsidies to help them. That’s why almost all of the biggest companies in the world are from those two countries

[@helloim3j]

US borrowing ease won't be true indefinitely.

[@oldskoolmusicnostalgia]

@@tylerclayton6081 Exactly, it's massive debt and stimulation of the economy through deficit spending. The USA is happy to run deficits equivalent to 6% of its GDP (I'm not saying it's the right approach or that I enjoy it but that generates impressive macroeconomic figures). The EU on the other hand requires its member states to keep deficits beneath 3% of GDP and even threatens to punish those running above that threshold. So we're talking about a two-fold difference in the allowed deficit, off trillion-dollar/euro figures. These are not small differences.

[@ulfosterberg9116]

That will change if US is not top dog anymore. We have seen the Clamour about help to Ukraine. If US screw up like this one or two times more they will not be the top dog anymore. Only a big country with a lot of weapons. Thats not the same thing. Then EU will (have to) step up and US will be sidelined if it is not trustable.

[@janhumiecki2827]

Even the EPP realised that wages need to be raised

[@mabuhayproductionltd3627]

Europe can only Raise Wages with an lower Rate than our competitors, if we raise more ? We just get higher Unemployment. Countries with Lack of Workers (Fx Denmark) can Raise more to attract workers from other EU countrys, But Countries with high unemployment can only Raise littel.

[@rabidlorax1650]

@@mabuhayproductionltd3627even if it’s only certain EU countries that increase wages, it will increase demand within all of Europe. Now it will be individual countries with a big export strategy within the EU so they won’t have to worry about protectionism.

[@thijsjong]

@@rabidlorax1650 Leads to higher imports from outside the EU wich is just silly. Europe will just bleed money. The blight called Temu and the likes of the sort. China is a dytopian so iety that should colapse sooner than laer. Import tarif from Chinese products are in order. Sweat shop. Bad work conditions. Slavery. Polution, aggresive geopolitics. F China. Banning tiktok is a good start. HIGHER mport tarifs for China should follow.

[@milantoth6246]

wages in america didnt increase because of government regulation, and that also wont fix the situation in europe.

[@HeruEviscerated]

@@milantoth6246 you're right, wages in America simply didn't increase. Except for executives and IT, which is stagnating

[@levifowler7933]

I can't speak for the whole Union, but in France, it's an insane amount of regulation that keeps innovation and wages down. You can't open a business without going through a fistfight with the local government, you can't hire someone without the same thing. If wages are to rise, you have to let people be economically productive

[@haboubia]

What regulation keeps wages and innovation down ?

[@joaquinescotoaleman4320]

​@@haboubia 50% to 60% of your income going to the State is not healthy in any society. In top of that there are too many regulations to open a bussiness.

[@scoobydoobers23]

​@@joaquinescotoaleman4320The fastest economic growth in American history occurred when taxes were that high. I don't think the connection is as significant as many think. In fact low taxes on the wealthy can quickly result in economies slowing due to under investment by the Government.

[@haboubia]

@@joaquinescotoaleman4320 50 to 60% isn't going to the state unless you're making millions

[@AnymMusic]

@@joaquinescotoaleman4320 and not regulating gets us even greedier companies who can do whatever they want. Imo there should be heavy regulation on the top companies

[@retcbn9894]

As an Swed i respect you have a Göteborg T shirt

[@UchihaAditya]

I see that Göteborg 1995 refers to the athletics world championship in 1995. What's the significance??

[@Tomten0]

@@UchihaAditya got me wondering too

[@AmongRocks]

I got ao distracted by the Göteborg T-shirt i had to just listen to the episode

[@skaylab]

I’m a software engineer living and working in Italy, my wage is about 1/4 of what i would earn in the U.S. I am aware that my country is not the most competitive in the EU as far as wages but still, that makes you wanna re-consider your options

[@tobiasphilippwittlinger8753]

Come to Switzerland!

[@aftp4i94]

Forget Australia as an option. I'm in Australia and I had a look at my pay over the last 10 years. Inflation average 2.6% p.a. vs wage increase 1.3% p.a.

[@skaylab]

@@tobiasphilippwittlinger8753 i actually might!

[@DarkZodiacZZ]

How easy is it to get a house in Rome with your wage compared to getting one in Boston with 4x wage?

[@skaylab]

@@DarkZodiacZZ it’s probably a little bit harder to find one in Boston, or at least that’s what some friends there told me, but as far as yearly salary to house price is concerned, the math works out to be about 10x in Rome and 5x in Boston, (looking at apartments specifically)

[@alileevil]

Once you have worked for American and Asian firms, a European firm feels like an old age home. They are slow to expand, slow to digitalize, and slow to incorporate new tech. Have all the higher wages you want, but I am not sure where all that money will come from.

[@Kazyumi]

Stupid socialist ideologues screaming dumb shit without understanding basic economics.

[@thearpox7873]

They're lefties. They want a bigger government to wave a magic wand and 'make things better'.

[@hits_different]

A big reason for that is brain drain. The youth would stay if the wages were more competitive, making firms younger as a consequence

[@Bsilux]

I fully agree with you and I think the main problem for this is the lack of a robust european capital market. There is no to limit funding available for start-ups or smaller companies to expand. This means that in most states we are at a point where there is no competition anymore. It is just the same old oligopoly, if there was actually some competition european companies would be forced to addapt. Just look at VW as an example, started way to late into the EV race and while it is catching up it was extremely expensive to do so.

[@ringsaphire]

@@Bsilux but when it starts rolling it will overtake Tesla in the long run lmao they are risk averse, yes but the upside is, they are more grounded and stable; they'll outlive and buy of theses young upstarts. Witch is part of the problem, even in UA or Asia imo; Almost no one can rise from the ground up to top tier anymore, they'll get eaten before that.

[@slynskey333]

They've been too low for a long time

[@K1989L]

Basically my whole carreer there has been very little if any pay raises.

[@JmKrokY]

True

[@LaFonteCheVi]

Hate to burst that bubble but it will only get worse. Scarcity of goods will only rise as conflict increases and demographies collapse. Higher wages won't manifest into anything tangible.

[@slynskey333]

@@K1989L same

[@wojtulacehoe5089]

@@LaFonteCheVi unless ClA releases the free energy tech

[@brendanwiley253]

We've all needed higher wages since the 70s

[@wojtulacehoe5089]

Speak for yourself. Here we needed higher wager since 1945.

[@AnymMusic]

I live in the Netherlands. And whilst I am glad with all the social safety nets we have, the generally cheap(er) education, clean drinking water, good roads, etc., I can't say that I wasn't pissed with how our country has handled wages and labour. In the past 23 years (Balkenende and Rutte), we have cheaped out on education, have semi-privatized healthcare, to this day attempt to privatize public transport, have become a mascot of the housing crisis thanks to all the private sector rental, and have become one of the biggest tax havens on the planet for the top of the societal food chain. We tax the middle class out the whazoo up to 49.5% above 69k, whilst giving subsidies to oil companies and quietly trying to hush scandals. Our wages have barely risen at all, meanwhile housing prices have gone up and up and up thanks in large part to the buying and renting out of available housing. I don't care what anyone says, I want a global slam down on these mega corporations and their greedy taking and taking and taking. In an ideal world we wouldn't need overreaching regulation to stop the greedy from just taking everything, but we have seen that that doesn't work.

[@ervinm.5065]

As an Italian, they offered me a job in the Netherlands about a year ago and I declined because even if Italy is suffering from a lot of these problems, I have my family here and I have more economical stability (or at least I had). Do you think I made the right call or do you think I should have moved?

[@RobSpartanR16]

​@@ervinm.5065housing costs is a major factor. If you have no immediate housing you will have a very difficult time. Especially in the bigger cities renting is very expensive. The wages might be slightly higher than Italy but that won't do you any good if you have to spend it all on housing. I left the Netherlands just because of this reason. And the weather 😅 really not a fan of all the rain and overcast skies.

[@ervinm.5065]

@@RobSpartanR16 the company was in Eindhoven and there was scouting agency helping me to rent a flat

[@undefined6341]

@@ervinm.5065 Dutch here: if your NET was under 5500 euro, then you made the right call. You need about 5000-6000 euro per month NET, for a decent life in the Netherlands if you have a family. You can get away with 4000 net if you are single. Anything under 4000 net is slave/starvation/poverty wage.

[@AnymMusic]

​@undefined6341 to add to this, that's the "shitty zone". At 1200 - 2000 a month you usually get all sorts of rebates and financial aids and social housing opportunities. With 4000 being fine if you're single since you can afford the additional costs. But like 2500 - 3500 is crap cause you earn too much for financial aid, and too little to really be able to afford the additional cost

[@_MrMoney]

A small sidenote: when Draghi talks about higher wages he isn't referring to a directly higher nominal salary, but rather a higher real wage taking into account discount rates, market competitiveness and overall purchasing power. Only directly raising salaries will do nothing but inflate the market.

[@OncleSpenny]

If rising nominal wages would strictly lead to inflation and not help, then why has not raising wages not stopped inflation, and why do lowering wages not lower inflation? It seems that inflation happens anyways, and the rise in inflation from rising wages is way overstated

[@_MrMoney]

@@OncleSpenny because rising wages are not the only thing that contributes to inflation. Money printing, energy shortages, increased demand with no increase supply,... there are dozens of things that contribute to inflation, and rising wages is one of them. That doesn't mean is overstated. Rising nominal wages on a vacuum does literally nothing to increase actual purchasing power, this just leads to consumers artificially having more money at the expense of businesses, which means businesses will respond to it by automatically rising prices and/or firing workers. The only thing rising wages does is contribute to inflation, unemployment and in most cases, less competitiveness, especially for small businesses.

[@tobiasphilippwittlinger8753]

Finally somebody that understands the situation. Thank you, I really needed to read that!

[@OncleSpenny]

@@_MrMoney well thank God we don't live in a vacuum do we Mr homo economicus

[@ayoCC]

Supply needs to be increased on basic goods to fight inflation there, however, strong purchasing power is necessary to nurture tertiary industries. The key is to increase wages, but balance it with incentives to improve efficiency in basic goods, such as subsidising upgrades that would increase overall efficiency and lower costs through innovation. Only with internationally competitive purchasing power can standards of living rise, and industries grow.

[@vitordeoliveira6139]

I am very impress they NEVER talk about reduce taxes from our wages.... we pay 45% in taxes, and to be franc the public services is not even good.

[@mathimed]

Let me guess... belgian?

[@ringsaphire]

you should try public services elsewhere with a less than 20% tax rates as a median or lower income individual for your arguments to be slightly worth more than random rants do ;)

[@SkyrimCZtutorials]

@@ringsaphire Like Switzerland?

[@tether23]

The thing is they cant reduce taxes, if they do the economy collapses, they wont be able to cover pensions and healthcare and other social services as they operate at the brink of collapse already with some even going into debt.

[@swecreations]

Go to the US then where the life expectancy is lower than the retirement age, and both healthcare and education can get you indebted for life.

[@Canonfudder]

The problem is way deeper. Europe just doesn't generate the value, that justifies these wage increases. Most regions have no great software industry (except north and eastern europe) and no growth potential there. Almost all milestones when it comes to new tech, come from the us..

[@117ao]

exactly. europe should focus more on innovation and progress, less on limiting everything

[@dariusalexandru9536]

China generate value but still their worker are svererely underpaid ,no corelation

[@wafercrackerjack880]

@@dariusalexandru9536 so the Chinese deserve higher wagers more than Europeans. And who's to say the Chinese dont get it? The richest cities of China are the size of European tiny countries, and their GDP is on par if not more than European small countries.

[@JackDespero]

Software is a flashy economy for market capitalization, but market capitalization is not the economy.

[@FlanPoirot]

ig europe generate no value, europe doesn't produce some of the most sophisticated lenses on the world, vital for producing CPUs, europe doesn't produce cars, doesn't export culture, doesn't make research papers, all that matters is shitting out tiktoks, instagrams and other low value detrimental crap that exploits people thru data mining and psychological manipulation so that u can increase "engagement" and sell eyes to advertisers, that indeed id the utopia we all wanted.

[@apc9714]

Draghi wasn't really an architect of austerity. He is actually the men who started very exoansive monetary policy, stimulating the economy.

[@michelbruns]

main reason for brain drain imo, especially in the tech industry. apart from london, zurich and maybe amsterdam tech salaries are very low in europe

[@tomasvrabec1845]

All salaries are very low... That the point.

[@adriandelatorreebro9555]

All salaries are low in Europe, especially when compared to the US. A plumber in the US earns much more money than an engineer in Europe.

[@fhujf]

​@@adriandelatorreebro9555 I'll take a low European salary with a proper safety net and welfare state over a US high salary, low- taxes & no safety net, sink or swim attitude any day.

[@DaDARKPass]

@@fhujf I wouldn't. A high salary is pretty much always preferable since I get to actually decide what to do with that money. Also makes it much easier to start businesses.

[@Hasanaljadid]

@@fhujfThere is Safety net but nit as good as most european countries

[@JuanCAraujoS]

Is not about wages, is about TAXES. When an entrepreneur in Spain gets half of the results from his/her work taken by the state in order to maintain a machine that doesn't work is quite enraging. European states, as Milei stated in italian TV, are way too big... which makes european economy quite slow. Smaller and leaner state is key. But politicians don't want you to talk about it.

[@_F8.]

When you have an extreme imbalance of purchasing power of the uber wealthy and everyone else. You absolutely dont want to lower taxes.... that's throwing oil on a fire. You need to raise baseline wages with increases in minimum wage and raise progressive tax rates to offset inflation. More of the poorer people have more to spend with no changes in tax and the uber wealthy have less to spend on hyper inflating the assets and the stock market, which is whole other issue. And the idea that by paying less tax in Spain will not make the state work less well is moronic.

[@JuanCAraujoS]

@@_F8. As a venezuelan still living in Venezuela I can say by experience: The so-caled "wealth redistribution" is a myth. Big states are NOT the solution, they are the problem. Socialism doesn't work. Th so-called uber-rich have people that understand tax codes so well, they end up payng less taxes than the average small entrepreneur. Besides. You rise wages, you add to the cost of any product, the cost infltes the prices and you're back on square one. If you try to regulate prices, you'll generate shortages and black markets (look how things were in Venezuela between 2013 and 2017). The laws of the economy are like the laws of physics: Inevitable.

[@TelvanniSpaceWizard]

As an American with no healthcare, the (American, at least) politicians that want to shrink the government do not want to do it in our favor. I personally agree with the spirit of the concept but it has to be done very carefully. Privatization in the '80s today means we have powerful monopolies on basic services and the working class has no ability to "vote with their dollar" to keep the costs or service quality in check. Just look to our $1000 ambulance costs, the energy company PG&E that is so irresponsible that it caused the largest fires in California history (and now makes their customers pay for it in price hikes and multi-day-long blackouts), and our nationally dreadful internet coverage and prices that are just finally starting to improve somewhat. There's a massive divide in service availability and quality between urban and rural areas. Even if you're in a city and supposedly have access to gigabit internet, it doesn't mean you're actually going to get reliable gigabit internet. Americans have high wages but waste it all paying for overpriced garbage. The US is finally trying to ban noncompete agreements (election year) that made it so that your previous employer could threaten you with thousands of dollars in court fees if you broke their irrational noncompete agreements, which could be as extreme as forbidding employment with a new company whose branches exist in the same states, for a years. Intentionally making it so that if you want to pursue other opportunities (higher wage, better benefits) you have to endure unemployment in your field for a prolonged period of time. Even unskilled labor like fast food and department store chains have noncompete agreements. It's all about stifling free market competition and forcing workers to put up with poor wages and working conditions. There's a theme here; *we are bound to honor the contracts we make with corporations, but they are not*. When American politicians say they want to shrink the government, part of what they mean is that they want to remove the government departments and services that allow us to hold corporations accountable to their contracts. They are not intending to make life for the average person better or even strengthen the economy in a holistic sense (they favor the creation of monopolies over encouraging competition). They still just want to rig the game even more in favor of the wealthy to recreate feudalism.

[@JuanCAraujoS]

@@TelvanniSpaceWizard I'm a venezuelan still living in Venezuela. I know health in the US is NOT a free market (is a cronies oligopoly) and I know, that socialism just doesn't work. Big States don't work. Long live freedom!

[@RodrigoFerreira-bs6hd]

That theory falls apart once you look at Europe pre-2008. The state was even bigger back then, and we managed to grow faster than the US. It's very simple in my opinion. We are doing nothing as we watch all of our industry go down the drain. How many tech giants are there in Europe? How many of them formed in the last decade? 0? It's probably 0. How can we expect to generate the same value as the US does?

[@bo0blik]

European agricultural protectionism through enormous subsidies is second to none

[@tomasvrabec1845]

Probably why the topic was clearly about Industries, not agriculture...

[@Ruzzky_Bly4t]

Agriculture is a tiny sector now. Industry, energy, and services are the concern here.

[@jasperschlief]

@@Ruzzky_Bly4t This is why it is so idiotic that there are large subsidies going there

[@bo0blik]

It certainly is tiny but CAP accounts for about a third of EU budget, that is mostly direct cash to farmers

[@thedutchfoxxx]

Europe's agricultural policy is not really protectionism, but rather a question of sovereignty. We cannot be dependant on third-countries for such a strategic and essential element that food is. Keeping our agriculture competitive allows us to keep food imports to the minimum.

[@xeanderman6688]

Me, a Czech: "Well that'd be lovely, wouldn't it?"

[@c3baker]

Not really sure why you are saying Draghi was a big architect of austerity, that was much more his predcessor at the ECB: Jean-Claude Trichett. Draghi was the "we will do whatever it takes" guy, I don't think you can blame him for the austerity fiscal policies which were pushed on the country levels.

[@Boretheory]

He was more the 0 interest rates guy which saved the ass of Southern Europe

[@c3baker]

@@Boretheory Yeah he wasn't the austerity guy. The austerity guys also wanted higher interest rates, not sure why the guy making this video is claiming Draghi was on the side of austerity.

[@miguel5785]

They don't say he was "a big architect". They just say mention the austerity "he oversaw".

[@Tony-wu4wk]

i live in Sweden and work as a system administrator(IT) and earn about 48k dollars/year i get 5 weeks of paid vacation each year,Free healthcare, 52 weeks of paid parental leave. I don't have a student loan because education is free. If i lived in the US i would probably earn more, but i wouldn't gain the worker benifits that i have here.

[@rantafor4377]

exactly, sure being paid more would be nice but Europeans have clearly shown that they would rather give the money to the state for more social benefits than keep it themselves in the form of higher wages.

[@klauseba]

I've been working in IT Support for 10+ years and IT Security for 3+ years in Hungary and I only earn 1k euro per month but at least there's not that much work and I work from home.

[@pauls3075]

California introduces higher minimum wages ... Also California, small businesses increase product prices, sack workers and close down in record levels. Market forces dictate wages not governments!

[@FlosBlog]

Especially Germany saw decades of wage suppression to keep the coveted title of exporting world champion

[@tobiasphilippwittlinger8753]

Germany is an insane tax and fees apparatus! That is the root of the problem.

[@accountnumber1234567]

Sounds like Germany and China had exactly the same strategy, but at opposite ends of the cost/quality tradeoff. Now that China is threatening Germany's auto industry, they're caught between free trade ideology and economic reality.

[@karols9660]

@@tobiasphilippwittlinger8753 Germany has a corruption problem. It's heaven for tax evasion and old money.

[@DanielM.-mq4rm]

In germany I have to work 6 months just for tax. That is modern slavery

[@alexb.8038]

Germany has a rich state but a poor population...

[@xDaniik]

I agree tbh, highly skilled work here is paid incredibly low for what it is

[@aaronleontaris9862]

love your videos. in the map 6:08 is mistake, croatia has also the Euro

[@MyLittleMagneton]

It's depressing that people in a America with the same engineering job as me (I mean literally under the same company) make almost TEN times as much.

[@akmon3490]

After paying taxes? After paying rent?After health insurance ?It's easy to look at the dum the company spends. And I don't know how high are your taxes but if they really pay them 10 times as much even accounting for those maybe check the skills and resume and see if other companies will pay you more

[@Carolina-rd3gh]

@@akmon3490Sadly it doesn’t work like that. You can have an exceptional cv but companies take advantage of the low wages of our countries and only give us a salary that is slightly better than median or minimum wage. There are high taxes everywhere: work, consumption, companies, real estate. There’s very little escape to channel the little wealth we accumulate.

[@akmon3490]

@@Carolina-rd3gh don't know , OP didn't specify if they(the people getting paid a lot more than him) were in regions that even if the person is paid ten times his salary most of it would go to rent and other stuff. And if you are in the private sector in America you should always fish for better spots , the moment when you find the perfect work to life to compensation balance that you seek you can stop . Always plan for the next step up on the ladder, be it starting a new business , a new career or buying property or stocks

[@akmon3490]

@@Carolina-rd3gh and if that niche that you are working in is hard capped on the salary see what you can expand into

[@Carolina-rd3gh]

@@akmon3490 That’s the issue. The private sector is very weak, villainised and most things are hard capped with very limited expansion possibilities especially in smaller countries. The only real way to overcome this is specialised in high ticket items or luxury products to compensate for smaller volume of units sold but there’s little people who can buy those anyway here and you end up only being able to have luck as an exporter. On the other hand the biggest exporters are usually mass produced and very scalable goods and not high ticket or luxury items as much so it’s really hard to truly excel in business. That’s why the most entrepreneurial European countries beyond Switzerland are mostly also the bigger ones.

[@ilikelampshades6]

Nurses and doctors in the UK haven't had a payrise since 2008 and we've effectively had about 35% of our salaries taken away from us. So yes, I have significantly less money to buy things I don't need and stimulate the economy a lot less. We also dont have children aged 32 because we cant afford them and the governments are confused why we have declining birth rates

[@chrimbus71]

so what was the wage in 2008 and what is it now? You're talking BS

[@boborappa]

@@chrimbus71 What were wages after inflation is included? You're way too confident for someone who knows so little.

[@ilikelampshades6]

@chrimbus71 we have had 16 years of consecutive paycuts when inflation is factored in. Housing inflation is never included in official inflation figures. If housing costs were taken in it would probably mean we are working for about 25% of our 2008 salary depending on where you live. Don't comment on things if your smooth brain can't comprehend the information

[@bloodwargaming3662]

No it's your fault. You guys elected tories years after years. (Now you can tell me about how you didn't vote Tory but majority of others in your country did vote right)

[@ilikelampshades6]

@bloodwargaming3662 I couldn't hate the Tories more if I tried lol. The problem we have is labour betrayed the working and middle classes with immigration so I won't vote for them either. Politically homeless

[@MaycroftCholmsky]

Dragi: "Europe needs higher wages to drive it's growth" Me, a non-EU-european watching this video during a break on my full-time IT job for which I only get 850$/month: "yeah, right"

[@noozle3884]

As a fellow full-time IT'er and out of sheer curiosity, which country do you work in? What kind of IT work do you do?

[@ZacharyPackard0976]

Bro get a job for an American company make american wages and live in your lower wage country and live like a king.

[@P.H.226]

And minimal wage in your country is how much? What can you buy for that money? You do understanr that if you are making over 800$ a month but spending like 400$ to sustain yourself then in fact you are making more than person getting 1000$ but spending 800$

[@tomasvrabec1845]

​@@ZacharyPackard0976 You believe that an American Company pays American wages abroad? Lol. Naive much.

[@tomasvrabec1845]

Meanwhile the minimum wage in some EU countries is 600USD per months. So your comparison doesn't always work. You may be 100/150USD behind some people in your industry for some EU countries.

[@miloslavpetras713]

Well then, pay me more 😂, i wont get angry

[@Ruzzky_Bly4t]

They'll also pay the people who make your products more. And companies will put that extra cost on the customer.

[@tobiasphilippwittlinger8753]

It does not work like that! The raise must come by cutting taxes and fees! The state is the problem, not the private sector!

[@griegomas]

I looked at moving to Europe from the U.S. and it was shocking how much of a pay cut I would have had to take. For people with good jobs in the U.S. (and the associated good insurance/benefits) the standard of living is much higher in the U.S. than Europe - you guys really do need to raise wages to remain competitive.

[@Just_another_Euro_dude]

Universal healthcare and free education. Half of Europe got higher MEDIAN wealth per adult citizen than USA. 60% of USA citizens don't have even 1000 dollars in the bank. Even the poorest Europeans got thousands and thousands of euros in the bank.

[@Hasanaljadid]

​education system is better in USA

[@Just_another_Euro_dude]

@@Hasanaljadid Especially geography. 😆👍

[@Hasanaljadid]

@Letsthinkaboutit-mb7nnUniversities are much much better in USA although expensive

[@Hasanaljadid]

@@Just_another_Euro_dudeBut Most Americans own home.MOST Europeans don’t

[@danielmalinen6337]

I thought that Europe needed lower wages so that factories could be brought back to Europe from Asia and global competitiveness caught up. Or so we have been told in Finland for the last 14 years.

[@Storgaaard]

This is ridicolus. Wages cannot decoupled from productivity. Europe's problem is not too little spending but too little innovation, too little productivity and insane amounts of bureaucracy that kills start-ups. Starting the printing press will not solve anything

[@thevoid5503]

Focussing on productivity without focussing on purchasing power. Yeah.. That's going to work "clown face". Who is going to buy it then?

[@ferhatdikmen3762]

A top skilled single German for example earns 6000 bruto € the money he gets after taxes is arround 4000€ 💀 Thats the biggest reason why the top skilled ones leave Germany and go to US.

[@ardi08]

2000€ cut 💀

[@mikel9138]

@@ardi08 Thats like 33% tax

[@tru7hhimself]

there are two ways to raise the bottom line. higher wages going in is the better option. if we lowered taxes we'd soon have crumbling infrastructure and homeless people on the streets like the us. no thanks.

[@lore00star]

With 4000 euros you're considered rich in italy. Germany is considered on the top 💀

[@Bleilock1]

With 4k a month you have more than 4 times average croatian wage

[@honkler1697]

That's not how economy works. You can't just demand higher wages. You have to de-regulate and lower taxes, so that economic activity picks up.

[@vidpetrovic8907]

When showing a Eurozone map, you still don't show Croatia as being in the Eurozone... Cmon guys, it's been 2years now, you can update the map.

[@jasemalhammadi4228]

Thank you for bringing such topics which is a diversification from the usual videos of partisan politics.

[@nassiled]

European leaders should have listened to the people when they tried to tell them this all these years. Note sure they can do something about it now. Nice try to boost an electoral campaign though.

[@pittsboy2008]

No wonder they are not releasing the report until after elections...

[@Jonas_M_M]

Austarity worked.

[@atasaygili2549]

Draghi isn't the one who incentivized the austerity. Actually the opposite, he made one of the most expansive measures named QE. In order to do that he has gone against the northern states such as germany and netherlands. But thanks to him, he kept the interests on debt low in mediterranean countries given their high share of debt to its gdp

[@tonycosta3302]

Having hired people in the US and France, I can say I was shocked at how little people there make compared to their US counterparts.

[@bucyrus5000]

Putting money in the hands of people who will spend it is a great way to put some health into an economy.

[@M1_wastaken]

One thing you missed about the US's ability to remain isolated is that it already is. US foreign trade as a percentage of GDP is lower than almost every country on Earth. Europe, quite the opposite, has countries with trade-to-GDP ratios over 100%.

[@LyricsQuest]

The USA has most of the resources it needs internally, including oil, gas, timber/lumber, corn, wheat, soy, and much more. Europe, on the other hand, needs to import almost all of it. Britain is the only european country outside of Russia that has oil/gas, but it's not enough to enrich all of the EU let alone matching them economically with the USA.

[@M1_wastaken]

Resources make up almost nothing of the US's economy (same with Europe). This is actually about demand being internal. European companies ship products abroad whereas American ones sell internally.

[@jonathanmong4927]

And part of that is its eastern and western neighbors. Kind of have to be a little more self sufficient when you border oceans on both sides and just two countries by land

[@Tusiriakest]

I earn an average medium salary in my country. At the end of the month, I spent money on rent, on groceries on supermarket nearby, on basics (water, electricity, internet, phone) and maybe have a dinner out twice a month. And thats it. There are like 5 companies that earn money from me. How does an economy survives this way? I'll await this report with curiosity

[@msdm83]

We knew austerity wasn't going to work 15 years ago.

[@thedude7319]

I agree, in US I could get 100k for my job and my company still make profit from my labour

[@Bleilock1]

And how much do you pay for medical bills?

[@wardy6224]

Holidays? Sick days? Maternity leave? Free social services?

[@Eddies_Bra-att-ha-grejer]

@@wardy6224 You're not profiting from that if you have a high-paying job.

[@DaDARKPass]

@@Bleilock1 The job's probably going to cover insurance.

[@Bleilock1]

@@DaDARKPass yea but in the us medical bills arnt part of your bruto, like in europe In the us you pay out od your pocket for it, in europe you dont In the end the us and the western europe even out

[@biber9979]

We dont need very high salaries. We need German salaries...they are high enough. We don't need more than that. What we need is cheaper housing... In Germany even in cities with 100k people price of new construction is 10k per sqm. That is crazy. Brand new 2 bedroom apartment in centre of Toulouse(and every other city except Paris,Lyon and Nice) can easily be found for 300k euros. That same apartment would be 600k in Germany even in cities like Ulm, Aachen,Bonn...and of course in other bigger cities it would cost even more.

[@sydneylaroche8276]

To be honest the US are suffering from the same problems. Wages are a lot higher but the cost of living is wild af there. We're being collectively shafted.

[@huwgrossmith9555]

It surprises me that a majority of nations hang on to Keynesian economics, which have been proven to be crap many times.

[@mladenmiletic3718]

Smart man.

[@nickt2822]

i am amazed that it took "the experts" 15 years to understand something that me, a normal idiot, understood the moment the crisis happened. smh.

[@tobiasphilippwittlinger8753]

Problem is you dont! Just as 99% of the population!

[@nickt2822]

@@tobiasphilippwittlinger8753 right... Because austerity worked wonders right? On the other hand Obama spending almost a trillion worked so.. I think you don't know what you are talking about.

[@tobiasphilippwittlinger8753]

@@nickt2822 I know very well what the problem is(!) and the people that cause it are utterly incompetent! It has to do with statehood, not with the private sector! The raise in wages must come by tax cuts for low incomes by 100% middle incomes minimum 50% and high incomes by at least 10%. Consume taxes differ greatly but should not be highter than 5%. In a nutshell for you the state aquires too much money! Do you even know what would happen if wages would be raised by say 35%?

[@melissacorbett4180]

​@@tobiasphilippwittlinger8753 ummm the 2008 financial crisis was caused by the banking sector. Countries like Spain got massively into public debt buying up the bad debt of the the banks (which are in the private sector).

[@tobiasphilippwittlinger8753]

@@melissacorbett4180 Correction it was caused by the American banking sector which gave loans incentivized from the state that lowered the requirements for loans in order to make more people hown owners. Yess they did bale them out but not with tax money, the toxic positions were just transfered into the balance of the central bank. However what has this to do with the fact that states tax heavily? Anyway the real question in regard to your point is should national banks bale out private banks? I think no! They never learn it if they get baled out everytime they mess up!

[@kauemoura]

I live in Belgium and I have a decent salary, but I certainly won't say no to more money... But life here is also quite pricey.

[@TheArthurkan]

“Here we go!”

[@MattY-ed1ep]

Europe has a tough time keeping it's industries from relocating elsewhere to begin with, paying people more only accelerates this unless there are appropriate counterbalances.

[@Ruzzky_Bly4t]

Well, there is a way in the long-term. But workers will not like it.

[@Terrorkarel]

Some key industries are relocating due to lack of skilled workers. Not due to costs. High wages would improve retention and counter brain drains.

[@tru7hhimself]

the world has changed in the last 20 years. with more trade restrictions and protectionism, outsourcing is becoming an increasingly bad business decision.

[@brampelberg9335]

With protectionism on the rise, it will become more attractive to relocate back inside the EU than outside, even if there is a wage increase.

[@MattY-ed1ep]

@@tru7hhimself That only applies if EU is willing to actually protect and/or invest in its local industries. Higher wages in the EU without corresponding local protections/investment only gives incentive for companies to move to lower-cost countries. This could be China, India, Indonesia, LATAM...

[@MartimCorreia10]

As a Portuguese i can agree, we are misable, only central Europe has decent wages and Switzerland and Luxembourg have good wages

[@FYTJ]

Most of those good wages go into housing in those countries anyway so all in all they end up being not as juicy as they may seem from a Portugal POV. Still good! But not as juicy…

[@Ruzzky_Bly4t]

Have you seen the prices in Switzerland? Those higher wages mean the people who make your stuff also get a lot of money. And you're the one who bears the costs.

[@dragon14927]

As a Spaniard I agree with you

[@tobiasphilippwittlinger8753]

I am Swiss, any idea why this is the case? Because we know that socialism is a problem. Higher wages mean higher prices, what you need, what almost all of Europe need, are tax cuts and a halt to forced fees for socialistic stuff!

[@R_velle]

​@@tobiasphilippwittlinger8753 That's such a gross oversimplification of an economic system it's actually laughable lol to attract educated workers from abroad you need to guarantee a satisfactory life, which includes good social (not socialist) conditions as well 😂 Switzerland is not the capitalist haven you make it out to be

[@mcmerry2846]

Why??? They have extremely good wages they can afford to work less than 40 hours per week, some of them even working around 20 hours and still having enough to buy cars, make trips and all. Even McDonald's workers can afford traveling each Month on vacation. It is annoying to find everything closed on Saturday and Sunday, but hey, they don't need to work on the weekend because they have enough wages

[@rolandb.1866]

I love how different wages are in Europe. In Hungary my family has like 1 vacation per 5 years or so.

[@69memnon69]

It’s the same in Australia. I work for one of the largest tech companies in the world and it’s shocking what they pay American employees compared to everyone else.

[@ChangesOfTomorrow]

Potentially, enforcing 4 day workweek with the same pay, will technically increase the hourly pay and leave more time to spend the money

[@Ruzzky_Bly4t]

And will reduce the work done by employees. It's just a trade-off.

[@ChangesOfTomorrow]

@@Ruzzky_Bly4t nobody is productive 8 hrs a day 5 days a week. It will mainly reduce idle time. There have been studies that showed productivity actually increased with 4 days workweek

[@Bleilock1]

Spend money on what when you dont have enough for anything since everything is so expensive More free time for a second job more like...

[@Ruzzky_Bly4t]

@ChangesOfTomorrow That would be great then, would be interesting to see how it would work

[@ChristiaanHW]

@@Ruzzky_Bly4t there are studies and pilots from the past that have shown that a 4-day work week might actually be more productive than a 5-day work week. several reasons why this might be the case: - as mentioned no one is 40 hours a week efficient. at the start of the day most have to get into it, the last hours of the day are just wishing the day was over already. - if you have one extra day to spend on things you like to do, hobby's, being with family etc. it makes you happier. and happier people often deliver better work. and 2 things that might happen because of people having more free time: - people might fill (some of) that extra free time by being a volunteer, for example helping out at a retirement home or at the local animal shelter. this in turn makes the community a better place, and raises happiness even more. - if people work less they probably have less work related issues. which saves money in (mental) healthcare and social benefits.

[@BlueFrenzy]

In Spain we increased the minimum wages a real lot during the last decade, and now we are the fastest growing european country. Market doesn't work if people doesn't have money. I thought this was already something stablished. But, of course, we have the Empresaurus class who just want to hoard and makes us believe that salary and condition cuts is good for the economy.

[@_utahraptor]

Como que España es la economía que más rápido crece?? 😂😂 esos países están en el este. España tiene un crecimiento lento. No hay que olvidar que fue el país que se recuperó lo más tarde del covid.

[@GabrielCazorlaPersson1]

Es muy complicado realmente, tener salarios más altos significa más consumo y mayor demanda de servicios, por lo tanto resulta en una mayor ganancia para las empresas que revierte de nuevo al empleado. Pero al mismo tiempo, si los salarios son más altos, se contrata menos porque la oferta se reduce. O bien, el coste adicional se traduce en un coste de vida más elevado.

[@WhichDoctor1]

i wish it was commonly known here in the UK. We've had 14 years of austerity now and everything is falling apart and the government is going broke. The only solution to this put forward by either main party is more austerity, and the media all act like there's no other option so never questions them on it. Recently when inflation was really bad and wages for normal people were falling faster than they had in 100 years the head of the central bank told us we need to get used to getting poorer, while the sales of luxury watches and top end sports cars were still booming because the rich are getting richer faster than they know what to do with

[@diogorodrigues747]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@tru7hhimself]

i totally agree with your point. and am a bit envious of spain where the political discourse isn't completely dominated by the right wingers like it is here in austria (the right wing just put forward the idea of working longer - more than 40h per week - for the same pay here…). btw, the word "stablished" in your comment is the funniest overcorrection i've seen in a long time.

[@farhankhimani1845]

I automatically start lipsyning the intro when Jack is hosting.😅

[@minecraft991115]

Higher wages are not needed, lower taxes are.

[@Yanousecq]

We got 0,02% raise this year in our company, despite 4% inflation... There is a way to go. If we didn't have to migrate to Germoney or NL to get decent life, we would stick in Poland ahah As a bilingual app support I gain less than a warehouse employee in NL or BE, while food prices almost match now with Poland.

[@tru7hhimself]

it isn't much better in central europe. i've now had three wage agreements below inflation in a row in austria. (5% raise with 10% inflation, yay…)

[@baron_mijail7752]

Salaries in the Netherlands are decent, but the housing market is crazy, so if you don't have a house already, then you are not going to live that much better. And by "having" I mean one that is already paid or where you have a morgage.

[@laszlomeszaros247]

7% pay rise, 18% year-on-year inflation here, so -11% real pay reduction...

[@danycashking]

higher wages also means more tax revenue which will be important to sustain the ageing population, as long as the salaries of the fewer younger people can keep up the social security programmes should be secure

[@kendalson7100]

Yup.

[@undefined6341]

we could probably get a lot more out of a thorough audit and review of WHAT taxes are actually being spent on. The amount of money that is being mismanaged, and outright stolen could actually fund many useful projects.

[@Ruzzky_Bly4t]

But it also means proportionally higher costs for European goods and services, so what's the benefit?

[@Terrorkarel]

​@@Ruzzky_Bly4t an increased incentive towards investment to improve production instead of a shrinking industrial and public sector. Inflation right now is driven by this, not by there being too much demand.

[@Ruzzky_Bly4t]

@Terrorkarel Explain this, how will higher labour costs make European industry more competitive? It's getting outperformed in almost everything by cheaper labour in third world countries, hence why everything now is produced in South East Asia and not Europe or the US. Only high-end industries are still going, and you would increase the demand for their products, but also sabotage them through more expensive labour. The buying power of EU citizens stays the same due to higher costs. So what's the gain here?

[@conordarcy4663]

Tax spending not income and introduce policy's to tax money exiting the economy to prevent people from taking an income and leaving

[@alicankarakaya2770]

Thank you for the video.

[@antoniocruz8083]

I once worked for a french firm here in portugal with a portuguese salary. At one time I was sent to work in france in the same company. I was the same person, same brain, same project, same papers, same briefcase, same hours, same productivity,, only different desk and 5X more pay. Can someone please explain this to me.

[@tbthegr81]

Världsmästerskapen i friidrott 1995 t-shirt... That's not something ya see every day

[@zeevallin]

Yeah damn, I was taken aback.

[@Jefflurr_]

Undrar starkt var han fick den tröjan ifrån. Blev lite tagen av att se en sån tröja, speciellt på en sån här video

[@hochifeen]

Love the Gothenburg t-shirt!

[@FortuneCookieLies]

Higher wages with internal incentives to bolster the internal demand like subsidized loans for business development. If you increase tariffs on the US or China as a means for business development there could be retaliation and an economic cold war. I think when Russia is done the EU could also benefit from the development of Ukraine and building it back up if they have the resources. Inflation and growth are the two factors. Best monetary location for economic growth and internal business development (Opposite of the yield curve inversion) is where the 10 year is twice the 5 year in interest rate. 9 times out of 10 the economic growth will be in the next year and then the following year interest rates will need to be raised. New Zealand's 2% worked because they were able to grow GDP at 3% and if you focus on the net and know the sweet spot of GDP then you know you can manage it well. I would say for long term growth 0.5% after inflation is a fair goal per year or 1%. Anything over 10% is unsustainable in GDP growth. I think the global economies saw what New Zealand did and thought that the 2% inflation target worked best. The key is to get the normal distribution on your side and manage them both to where inflation is around 2% and GDP growth is around 2.5% if you can. If wages grow too fast too soon, then what you have is inflation that will spiral out of control and the only way out is through raising rates and decreasing the money supply like what we are seeing now in the US and world.

[@ForTemporaryUse-oq4on]

Under 100 views gang

[@AlbertCloete]

I knew austerity was a mistake back during the EU debt crisis. And I'm not an economist. It's hard to see people in power who are supposed to understand these things make these mistakes with such great cost to massive amounts of people. You should never just blanketly reduce spending. You should make sure you spend on the right things. The problem isn't spending, it's spending on the wrong things. So pivot instead of slowing down. You need to spend more and invest more in factors of production so that production is cheaper in the future. Creates more abundance in future. Austerity is the nation level equivalent of putting money under your mattress.

[@thewingedhussar4188]

The problem though, that should be asked Is how those wages are going up. It's not the average worker's wage going up. But the 1% who are getting more money.

[@HUEHUEUHEPony]

It's good for the environment

[@dewaard3301]

Europe needs to create its own scalable industries. Then there will be room to compete on wages.

[@diametheuslambda]

Govt spending / GDP is a terrible measure for the purpose without accounting for state and local spending.

[@hdbsnhdh8209]

Don’t increase wages, lower taxes.

[@PhilippBlum]

This is soooo true. If you want to have highly skilled and creative knowledge worker, you have to pay them fairly. Otherwise, they move to the USA, and they have done that in the past.

[@lukacvitanovic8488]

Yes, taxes in the EU are extremely high. I would say 50% is about right in terms of how much the average citizen has to pay but in this percentage, about 15% is an outright tax 15% is for "Free healthcare" and 20 % is for pension contributions, so yes it is high but not like it seams. the problem arises when everything we buy is taxed at 25% and you add property taxes. So I would say if you add everything together we pay about 60-70% of our brute salary to the government.

[@alial-fatlawi5565]

Love the Göteborg (Gothenburg) shirt!

[@roymichaeldeanable]

The UK needs lower taxes especially for the bottom 30%

[@Twin.motors]

The UK already has lower taxes for lower incomes. UK is one of the few countries in Europe that has a scaling taxation system and it's awesome for those that want to grow and evolve

[@oldskoolmusicnostalgia]

@@Twin.motors It's not, because as soon as you rise up the tax brackets very punitive tax rates kick in. It's actually been rated as one of the most unfair in the world, a perfect example of poorly executed progressive taxation.

[@Twin.motors]

@@oldskoolmusicnostalgia can't speak for everyone but back when I lived in the UK the low taxes helped me out enormously when I barely had many to survive and once I got going yes the taxes were high but overall I felt it was benefcial for me

[@esanahka9284]

​@@Twin.motorsall of Europe have progressive/scaling taxation except Russia

[@Twin.motors]

@@esanahka9284 Romania doesn't have that

[@DudeWatIsThis]

I have a small software company. USA clients come to me _BECAUSE_ they know they can pay us less. You can't really change this, they'd go to India instead. Honestly it's not so bad. Just move away from the big cities and you're fine. Who wants to live in London? Or Paris? Or Madrid? Those places are gigantic and expensive.

[@DudeWatIsThis]

@@Slippin_Jimmy1012 A small city of less than 500K people. But I've seen so many people saying "pLeAsE GiVe mE FuLl ReMoTe JoBs" while living in Munich or Copenhagen. Get it together, you can live somewhere cheap and _then_ get the remote job, derp.

[@butterflysrage]

Austerity didn't work? I'M SHOCKED!

[@teekanne15]

why is it never mentioned that printing money (i mean increasing nationnal debpt) during corona as a cause for inflation?

[@hungo7720]

In retrospect, what propels the american economy is almost its energy independence. Europe never have the abundance of fossil fuels 3:23 such as the us. On top of that, the US uses the world reserve currency which incentivizes 4:34 the investors to pile capital into america's thriving economy.

[@nicoles9077]

@hungo7720 that’s a simple way to state advantages the US has but it doesn’t propel the economy. Most Americans are employed by small businesses and it’s a consumer based economy. Low taxes, willingness to take risks of failure and innovation all contribute to growth and then Consumerism propels that growth. China does not have a reserve currency and is a net importer of energy but it has the second largest economy. Their economy is propelled by exporting. Plus, the US was a major economic power at the end of the 19th without having a reserve currency.

[@ervinm.5065]

We could totally work on renewables and organic gas If we wanted. Not just by energy production but also but lowering energy cosumption because we have the infrastructures to do it. It's just that people hate to be inconvinienced and lowering our comsumption requires giving up to a lot of commodities

[@accountnumber1234567]

Small correction to "Europe never have the abundance of fossil fuels" - Europe used to have plenty of coal, which drove industrialization in the 18th and 19th centuries. Currently, Germany, Poland, and Ukraine combined hold 9% of the world's coal reserves.

[@undefined6341]

on top of that, we made an enemy out of our biggest and cheapest supplier of energy, so... that's not helping much.

[@Dendarang]

Actually the main thing that propels the US economy and the second largest reason (by far the largest is exchange rate) for divergence between the US and EU GDP's since 2000 is population growth - which is much higher in the US than in EU. There's very strong correlation between GDP growth and population growth in the last couple of decades.

[@starseeker1334]

"Why US still misses basic worker's rights, public transport, healthcare and welfare protection"

[@annoyboyPictures]

Funny how most immigrants want to go to the USA and not to Socialist Nanny States in the EU?

[@dars1961]

Europe still needs higher wages though, just like the US shouldnt really go for a wage reduction. The actual issue for both continents is wealth concentration, they have the money, but they insist on funneling it all to the top, and then act surprised when everybody below is increasingly more frustrated.

[@user-lr3uz5xv6c]

"cause we are not communist" lol

[@floxy20]

Quite a series of broad statements there. Made to soothe hurt feelings because Europe is no longer where it's at?

[@bruhbutwhytho2301]

@@floxy20I mean it’s true though

[@red464]

eyy nice shirt! comming from a sweed in Göteborg

[@LudvigIndestrucable]

If the EU had invested in energy security, such as nuclear, there would be less instability and a significant shift in trade balances without funds being directed towards OPEC+.

[@anonbefallen4807]

As an American, I find myself continually frustrated by my country's protectionism. I think we should foster American industry, but I also think that trying to be completely self-sufficient is a terrible idea and won't work, even for us. What we should be doing is increasing trade ties with our allies in Europe. There are things Europe makes that we want. European evs are objectively way better than the shit boxes Tesla and American ev manufacturers make. Not to mention, European beauty products are insanely popular here. In my experience, most good reliable shampoos and soaps are French in origin, not American. I love the EU, I think structurally it's a great idea, and I want to see it succeed, America should be willing to help. Thats my two-cents on the matter.

[@KosmicK]

What protectionism? Europe exports over $100Bn more in goods to the US than the US exports to the EU. That it decided that certain key industries are interests of national security doesn't mean that it is some closed economy. Europeans are pretending that losing a few billion in export surplus is the cause of their economic woes when it is long standing structural issues.

[@mightymagnus]

Göteborg 1995 (and previously that tram poster from Gothenburg). Would like to know the backstory? (I suspect fotball cup at Gothia cup but maybe it is more to it?)

[@SkyrimCZtutorials]

Social system, high taxes and keynessian economics in need to maintain constant inflation are also large contributors.

[@happy_thinking]

I mean that's a stupid thing to say. The question is not whether we need higher wages, but how to get there. Less regulation and more cooperation would help us get there. Stuff like different laws, taxation, and languages are a huge barrier to doing business at the EU level.

[@happy_thinking]

@Letsthinkaboutit-mb7nn The USA is very regulated and their life is garbage in those areas. On the other hand, it's much easier to do business in the USA than in most of Europe. It's hard to say what Europe needs to do because Europe is many different countries that need different adjustments. In general, it should be easy do to business and you shouldn't be punished with insane taxes if you do. Switzerland is probably a good example of how Europe should be structured.

[@happy_thinking]

@Letsthinkaboutit-mb7nn Like I said Switzerland is a good example. Many EU countries do quite well when it comes to business I never claimed the opposite they just fall short when you compare them to more successful places. I think your imagination when it comes to cutting regulations is too simplistic. Instead of removal think more in terms of simplification. (Removal is also necessary in some countries) African countries have a plethora of issues they need to address first. Corruption in these countries is also mainly a result of too many regulations and heavy bureaucracy, but they have many other issues and it would take me hours to explain.

[@happy_thinking]

@Letsthinkaboutit-mb7nn It is. As somebody living in such a country, I speak from experience. A bundle of complex regulations means you need "friends" or money to get anything done and this is a recipe for corruption. Some people think that if only people were being good or honest things would work out, but fun fact NO. Regulations are only good when they are systematic guidelines, not step-by-step control. As I said African countries have too many issues, but look at somewhat developed countries like Brazil, Argentina, Russia, Balkan countries, etc. All of these countries have all sorts of regulations, but they either have too many or low-quality ones. The main point is you should focus on the practical effects of regulation, not the imaginary ones. All regulations are trade-offs, not solutions and you need to find the correct amount between protection and safety on one side and freedom and progress on the other side. P.S. For example the minimum wage regulation is a garbage idea that won't die even though it's a bad trade-off.

[@happy_thinking]

@Letsthinkaboutit-mb7nn Yeah, but that's my point both are a problem. Regulations are a breeding ground for corruption and are very often written by corrupt people to benefit themselves. It's much easier to pay a bribe than wait two years for approval that should have taken one month. Like I said it's about realistic implementation where bureaucracy is an enemy not a friend. Twenty or thirty years ago most EU countries had probably 10% of the bureaucracy they have today and they did arguably better and for sure not worse. P.S. My comment was a general guideline not a solution for every single problem.

[@ussocom3644]

"Less regulation" That's never gonna happen, europe loves their "big daddy" governments, and the people are too docile to do anything about it.

[@gungan5822]

Wages can only be as high as the market requires. Artificially tacking the price of labor higher than the market sets just destroys jobs and kills the entire entry level market for young people. Then jobs that require high school level education suddenly demand a PhD for minimum wage pay.

[@Terrorkarel]

European wages are below the market value. They've been kept low artificially, that's the problem.

[@gungan5822]

@@Terrorkarel if the government hasn't pinned them low by Fiat then they are market value. Automation pressures wages down.

[@user-uf4rx5ih3v]

@@gungan5822 They are market value, but many European governments especially Germany have manipulated the market in order to keep wages low and exports high.

[@gungan5822]

@@user-uf4rx5ih3v Clearly government interventionism needs to be a crime then. There are less than a handful of instances in all of recorded history where intervention from government has had a positive result.

[@MrToradragon]

@@Terrorkarel Well we would have to look into it deeper as for example in Czechia you cost your Employer much more than what is your gross wage as your employer has to pay another 25 % of your gross wage directly government so if average wage is 43k CZK, then that person costs the employer about 57k CZK. So in order to get clear picture we should compare not only the gross wages, but gross wages and other fees paid.

[@angrychortle4013]

This assumes that increased government spending does, in fact, increase wages. If the spending causes inflation or currency depreciation to quicken, it could end up lowering real wages instead.

[@jvb4450]

It’s true. We make a lot of money on paper, but the cost of living is too high. You can’t buy products and services when all of your money goes towards buying basics like food and paying for rent/mortgage.

[@thedude7319]

So lower taxes ? That isn't going to work goverments are addicted

[@AnymMusic]

it wouldn't work anyway since you'd have less money to pay for social projects

[@oldskoolmusicnostalgia]

@@AnymMusic Taxation revenue doesn't necessarily from income taxes.

[@sebastiankonigsperger8237]

The wages are not too low… the taxes are too high

[@sydneylaroche8276]

High taxes are ok if invested in things that make life better - problem is we have high taxes that miraculously disappear and inadequate investment into public services (resulting in privatisation - we know privatised public services don't work properly). We still have low wages on top. Literally the worst of both systems.

[@logui113]

Who could have ever thought that austerity measures would be a bad idea mmm

[@Rexy_Raccoon]

Meanwhile in Belgium: "Let's sell all our obligations and market shares which is rendering us a passive income to other countries, both inside and outside of Europe to get an instant cash boost. Then let's tax the civilians even more for that lack of income."

[@NordicAviationNO]

Over time, inflation will increase again

[@Phantomgaming154]

Tldr on that weimar republic grindset.

[@lmpeto94]

So? If wages rise by 10% on average. Does every thing cost 10% more? No. Wages haven't been the driving factor for inflation in the last years.

[@NordicAviationNO]

Depends where you live@@lmpeto94

[@Kursun28]

Inflation is debt when you have more your value goes down it has nothing to do what you earn

[@ChristiaanHW]

it's the same problem as when women started to enter the job market en-mass. we all thought that we (a family) would end up with twice as much money, because now we have two people working. but because of the prices of everything rising at least as much, we are now worse of than then. but hey lets make more of those mistakes, what could go wrong.