On the Nature of Things | Forum

Now the question is how to make noddy & typhoon pay their fair share????

i will note that australias stat shows the 2 speed economy and hyper inflated house prices as much as it shows egalitarian utopia.

if you are in mining you can make 150,000+ a year driving a truck and if you are in government you can make likewise off mining taxes.
when your not in either of those (or one of the big corporates which supply services to them) then you can make 30,000 to 50,00 grand a year and barely afford to live with the bulk of your money going on housing costs.

luckily the mining boom is ending with a crash and we will normalise down again soon - provided the special interest groups allow it and dont force us to follow the status quo maintenance via debt horseshit the leftie fear worshippers and right wing rentiers love so much.

Sorry noddy, I've heard the same thing from the Kennedys so often, I ain't buying it!

Brother, can you spare a dime?

The chart is very interesting. It looks like median wealth in Canada is more than twice that of the U.S.

Perhaps part of that is inflated real estate prices in some markets, such as Vancouver, but that couldn't be large enough to account for most of it.

Azrael wrote:The chart is very interesting. It looks like median wealth in Canada is more than twice that of the U.S.

Perhaps part of that is inflated real estate prices in some markets, such as Vancouver, but that couldn't be large enough to account for most of it.

Real estate prices which did not yet collapse has to be a factor in some cases. France e.g. where the housing bubble has not yet deflated by contrast to USA, Spain et al.

More important factor is inequality in wealth distribution. If two countries have the same average wealth, the one with the most unequal wealth distribution will get the lower median wealth. Definitively a factor when comparing the US with Canada, or with about all European countries.

Then of course past preference for savings rather than expenses and indebtment plays also a role.

It's interesting what you said about France. I heard on the radio several years ago that real estate prices in Paris were much, much lower than those of London. As far as I know, that's still the case; but I'd like to know what you have to say, since you probably have much more knowledge.

Is there much of a bubble in French real estate? If so, has it gotten anywhere near as crazy as in Vancouver, etc.?

Here it says that during the housing boom (1997-2007) French house prices surged by 150% (112.5% inflation-adjusted).

Alexis wrote: . . .

More important factor is inequality in wealth distribution. If two countries have the same average wealth, the one with the most unequal wealth distribution will get the lower median wealth. Definitively a factor when comparing the US with Canada, or with about all European countries.

. . .

Bingo.