Finland
"Richard Quick Millionaire" left the following snide comment on my post from yesterday about the distribution of wealth in the United States v. Canada and Finland, where I pointed out that Finland was a much more egalitarian society than the US:
Despite their small size and remote location in the far north, their GDP per capital of $30,600 is not that much lower than ours ($42,000). They have a much lower infant mortality rate than ours (3.55 per 1000 as compared to 6.43 per 1000) and a somewhat higher life expectancy at birth than ours (78.5 years v. 77.9 years). And gee, they're even competitive in the number of phones per capita (1.4 v. 1.55).
All in all, I wouldn't knock Finland. And, I'm not at all sure it's such a great thing to be an immense superpower, either.
Update: I might just add that since "Richard Quick Millionaire" seems to believe America is a better place to get rich quick than, perhaps Finland, recent studies have shown that there is actually less economic mobility in America than in Europe. It's easier to move from poverty to riches in Europe than here. I don't know about Finland per se, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were true there as well.
[All stats from the CIA World Fact Book]
This explains why Finland is the immense Superpower in the world it is today. Some readers may say: We've got to change this! Others may say: "Wow. I'm gonna make damn sure I'm one of the rich guys.No, but it isn't the reason Finland is not an enormous superpower either. Actually, Finland does surprisingly well with what it's got, which is a land area of 338,000 sq. km (roughly 1/30th that of the US), and a population of 5.2 million (roughly 1/50th that of the US).
Despite their small size and remote location in the far north, their GDP per capital of $30,600 is not that much lower than ours ($42,000). They have a much lower infant mortality rate than ours (3.55 per 1000 as compared to 6.43 per 1000) and a somewhat higher life expectancy at birth than ours (78.5 years v. 77.9 years). And gee, they're even competitive in the number of phones per capita (1.4 v. 1.55).
All in all, I wouldn't knock Finland. And, I'm not at all sure it's such a great thing to be an immense superpower, either.
Update: I might just add that since "Richard Quick Millionaire" seems to believe America is a better place to get rich quick than, perhaps Finland, recent studies have shown that there is actually less economic mobility in America than in Europe. It's easier to move from poverty to riches in Europe than here. I don't know about Finland per se, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were true there as well.
[All stats from the CIA World Fact Book]
posted by walldon | 5:14 PM
1 Comments:
Since I am already wealthy, mobility from poverty to riches is not a plus. I'd rather keep the peasants in their place.
I once was offered the chance to buy Finland at a bargain price, but I turned it down. Few good fast food restaurants to be had, except Mr. Herring.
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