On Wed, 21 Nov 2007 10:00:12 -0800 (PST), Chuck Gould
wrote:

On Nov 21, 9:25?am, "Bill Kearney" wkearney-99@hot-mail-com wrote:
The citizens of this country earn a per capita income (not
"family income", but per capita) of $65,509 per year, spend a maximum
of $200 per yar for health care

Go do some homework on what the taxes are like. ?Personal property, sales
(VAT) and income are quite high.

When quoting figures it's a bit more important to be citing NET figures.

You are absolutely correct.

Without going through all the math, however, would it seem like an
economy where the average income is $65,509 per person could take a
larger tax bite than an economy where the average income is 40-some
thousand per *family* and still leave a pretty decent sum left over?

I would be surprised if the net figures for Norway were substantially
below those for the US, particularly when considering that most
families earning only 40-some thousand per year in the US will have no
health insurance provided by such low wage employers. Those who can
afford it will also be paying $500-$1000 per month, or more, to insure
a family of four in the US. Out of pocket health costs are limited to
$200 per person per year in Norway, and they are a very healthy and
long lived population so it's tough to criticize the apparent quality
of health care available there.

Like I say, I'd rather send my crude oil money to Norway than to Saudi
Arabia, Russia, or China.

But I'd rather live in the US than in Norway. Warts and all. :-)

Just think, most of the good stuff happened after the country drilled for
its own oil.

"Norway's emergence as a major oil and gas producer in the mid-1970s
transformed the economy. Large sums of investment capital poured into the
offshore oil sector, leading to greater increases in Norwegian production
costs and wages than in the rest of Western Europe up to the time of the
global recovery of the mid-1980s. The influx of oil revenue also permitted
Norway to expand an already extensive social welfare system. Norway has
established a state petroleum fund that is expected to exceed $387 billion
by the end of December 2007."

(http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3421.htm#econ)

Maybe we should get smart and do the same.