An Icy Oasis from the Great Meltdown
Norway works hard to stay on an even distributional keel. The wealthiest Norwegians pay a 47.8 percent tax on income over $105,368. The top income tax rate in the United States: just 35 percent.
The tax-the-rich contrast between Norway and the United States runs deeper than the simple difference between these two tax rates. Norway’s 47.8 percent top rate applies to both ordinary salary income and capital gains income from the buying and selling of stocks and bonds. Wealthy Americans pay only a 15 percent tax on their capital gains.…
…Norway is converting “petroleum wealth” into “financial wealth” and using this wealth to ensure a stable social safety net for all Norwegians. One benchmark of Norway’s success: Only 4 percent of Norwegian households with children, one study of developed world economies reported last October, rank as poor. The comparable poverty rate in the United States: 18 percent.
And they get more time off.
Yes, and clearly their redistributive economic plan has served them well over the years, as they have developed the world’s leading economy, most efficient and liquid financial markets, and an economic system that incentivizes people to produce and succeed, rather than live off the state.
Oh wait, that’s not Norway.
Source: azspot
