How The Dutch Economy Shows We Can't Reduce Wealth Inequality With Taxes | Economics Explained
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- Опубліковано 25 лис 2020
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This is the Netherlands, a picturesque nation filled with windmills, tulip fields, and uhh coffee shops.
The nation is looked to by many as an extremely forward-thinking place that practices some pretty progressive policies. The nation has an incredibly strong social security system, with universal healthcare, robust retirement pensions, as well as allowances for maternity leave.
And These kinds of policies are mirrored in other areas as well, the nation is home to relatively high tax rates, and the protections for employees are very strong almost to the point that people joke it is impossible to be fired in the Netherlands.
So this kind of looks like a liberal paradise right? Well, it would if it were not hiding a dirty little secret.
This postcard-perfect little nation is according to the world bank the most unequal place on earth, and the extent of the inequality is simply staggering.
We have explored south Africa on the channel before, which normally gets this less than a desirable title. And if you were to pose this question to google, it’s what you would walk away thinking. But this isn’t the whole story.
In terms of wealth inequality in recent years, South Africa has been pretty tame. The Netherlands by contrast is the only country on earth that is more unequal than the world itself.
So what is going on here?
Similar policies to the ones that have been commonplace in the Netherlands for decades are being proposed by politicians in places like the United States as a way to curb the issue of wealth inequality. But if we look at the results it doesn’t look like they will do that at all.
So, to really understand this we are going to look at a few key issues.
How did the Netherlands of all places become the land of inequality?
What does this teach us about the nature of wealth in the modern world?
And how can this help us create more robust economic policies that work to benefit everyone?
And of course, while we are here we will call this a country video and put the Netherlands on the economics explained leaderboard.
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I am Indian guy living in Netherlands 🇳🇱. If what I see here is inequality, then I wish it spread into every country in the world 🌎
Money & Macro provides a brilliant response to EE and explains why EE's theory is wrong : ua-cam.com/video/tW_kw6OPXc0/v-deo.html
☺
Im a Indian guy living in India and no thanks! Keep your Dutch communist $hithole to yourself. We don't want it around the world.
@@adityaxxanand quite ironic to call some place a shithole when you literally live in one
@@adityaxxanand the record labels logo on your profile pic is owned by martin garrix, a dutch producer.
It’s fine to have high inequality as long as the poorest can afford quality education/health/food/shelter, etc. Inequality is not the problem, poverty is.
thats exactly what I was thinking at the same time, one of the main reasons for the high tax rate is so that everyone can have those basic human amenities no matter financial status
Inequality is the problem when it creates sharp distinct culture of hoarding wealth. The rich will try to keep the balance of economy tip on their favor, of course this by walk on thin line said law.
@@MRsickcat84 I'm pretty sure vast majority of people will try to tip balance of economy in their favour of they can
Overpopulation is a massive problem.
@A. H. There's an overpopulation problem, children suffer. The majority of people in India are culturally wealthy, they appear generally content and happy. Maybe the world's ethnic majorities, where land cannot sustain, could consider having no more than 2 or 3 children.
What I learned from this video is that certain metrics can be used to show numerical inequality, but are worthless to demonstrate differences in quality of life.
Metrics like cash money you control.
IE: Your the riches pets who work for them. They pay your vet bill and feed you kibble, but good luck saving up to start a business, so you can get out from under their employment control.
This video is completely wrong, here’s why: ua-cam.com/video/Ot4qdCs54ZE/v-deo.html - The Dutch Economy is NOT the Most Unequal by Money & Macro.
@@kkknotcoolyou’re*
@@Riorozen New metrics didn't "have to be made to attempt to weaken the position." The old metrics of measuring quality of life simply proved to be entriely worthless at representing a proper notion of quality. If you really believe people across the United States enjoy a high standard of living, then I feel very glad for you. You live in a world of low standards and low expectations. Ignorance truly is bliss.
@@Riorozen and even then....if you accept the chips where they fall, you dont need insurance even as an elderly person. I don't want to fear death, I just fear a painful death.
Having lived in the Netherlands all I can say is that the minimum standard of living that they provide is something I found very valuable in a society. And perhaps the equality of access to healthcare and education is more important than any other equality that you can measure.
You have provide next to nothing in national defense (thanks to the US who provides %80 of NATO's funds) and you have a HUGE nationalized oil industry constantly pumping money into the public trust. THAT'S why you have what you have. You are an extremely lucky and EXTREMELY non-duplicatable economy.
Surely the lesson from this is that giving ordinary people access to healthcare and a reasonable standard of living is not a threat to the rich elites.
You are absolutely right! It is a threat to ordered nary people though, so that sucks.
Amen to that, no one cares if there are billionaires when the common people have enough to live happily for their entire lives.
@@UnkindPenguin71 Yeah, no. I live in a country that has both (although the living standard is a bit debatable depending on what you undestamd as reasonable) and I can tell you right now that the majority of people are NOT satisfied with either of those things. Granted, it's a lot more complicated due to various structural problems but my general experience is that most people want equality of outcome, not opportunity.
I do agree that having both is perfectly doable and not necessarily a threat to the top 1%, though.
I agree with you 100%
@Johnny Jackson seems like you hang out with shitty people then, because anyone I’ve ever met only seeks to better their situation with hard work after they meet the most basic necessities like food, lodging, education and healthcare.
If this video were called "How to make the Netherlands most inequal country in the world by cherry picking data" it would be great.
Yes because of the culture. Bragging about how wealthy you are or complaining about how poor you are is a No No there. You have to blend in no matter what. Every wondered why Scandinavian people are not very expressive?
@@chudchadanstud since when are Dutch people Scandinavian??
@@nkesimaat Nice Strawman. I never said Dutch. I said Scandinavians are like that.
@@nkesimaat You should read what people write before you comment. /a scandinavian
Now that you are aware of just how manipulative media will be to push a narrative it is time to reflect on your own preconceived notions of other countries
My main take from this video is that sometimes statistics, when observed outside of context can lead to incorrect conclusions, because Dutch cuisine aside, life in the Netherlands is great. :)
I love my frikandellen bro
Yeah but the Netherlands has defense contracts with the UN and Nato. Which means they live a privileged life while other people have to fight Russia for them...
@@svenjorgensenn8418 huh? how does this have to do with anything I said?
Have you tried finding a house? And have you seen the election results? I don't think a majority of dutchies agree with you
@@okwabena4828 absolutely, they do. All this house shortage is such a first world issue. Thankfully people in the Netherlands can vote new people in to try to do something about it, unlike in most other places in the world.
I might not buy a house here but I would definitely want my children to have the advantage of quality education and healthcare that the Netherlands offers. Plus the culture exposure here and similar countries is something I would definitely want my family to experience. There are much worse and unsafe places to live.
❣️🇨🇦 I left the USA and returned to Canada my child went from failing in school to getting highest marks one grade ahead. In one year. In the provincial capitol. No mortgage deduction but saved 40 k a year in tuition and health care.
Lolz, you don't even have free education or healthcare despite the insane taxes. The country is a scam.
all old data it's not like the video says at all better luck in norway sweden or denmark
Ouer school and healthcare is almost the same as Fauci a lie
As someone who just had a NICU baby and has 100k hospital debts, student debts, and other debts, I wish I could afford to move out of the US to a country like the Netherlands :/
The Dutch have one of the most complex tax systems in the world. This video serves as proof that you cannot just understand it quickly, as the author got so many things wrong.
What did the author get wrong?
@@Socrates526 better question: what did he get right?
@@Socrates526 At this point... A better question would be: how much did they get right?
ua-cam.com/video/tW_kw6OPXc0/v-deo.html for a reasoned actual explanation of the wealth inequality in the Netherlands.
Complex tax system? I forgot to do it this year, so I did it online the evening before the 1 of may. It took me 30 minutes. Everything is correctly prefilled, I only had to check my mortgages…
This is the type of research you get kicked out of a university for
True, because it's so incredibly poorly thought out, heavily outdated, wrong citation, massive biases, false comparisons between countries etc
@@philipje1 hahaha socialism sucks by the way. You’re the biased one.
@@darrena5384 i hope what you said was completely ironic...
@@darrena5384 I'm more surprised if there is a country survive with pure socialism or pure capitalism.
@@zitronentee obvio not. Without compromise, either system will become the stomping ground of the powerful elite. The perfect system is a mixture of both, one which isn't feasibly achievable though Norway might be the closest
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Hi as a tax law student I would like to say that in the Netherlands most forms of passive income are not directly taxed. The housing market in the Netherlands is the biggest motor to inequality. Many independent surveys have come to the same conclusion that the Dutch tax system in it's current form actively creates inequality. A list of examples of things that are tax free in the Netherlands: renting out real estate, stock gains and dividends, art, yachts and renting them out and inheriting an active business. The Dutch tax law is so complex and riddled with exemptions that only those who can afford a good tax adviser can pay close to zero tax.
"making home loans completely risk-free"
Hey, I've seen this before. It's a classic.
believe it or not, Dutch have an "eternal" housing crisis since 1960s
@@saltymonke3682 Tell me more, please
@@saltymonke3682 tell us more
@@saltymonke3682 WE WANT ANSWERS GOD DAMNIT
@@saltymonke3682 the people want to hear your words Space Monkey !
Well, if this isn't proof that economic metrics rarely paint a complete and accurate picture, nothing does. Perhaps the quality of life and overall happiness are better indicators of how well an economy is serving the people.
Well, actually probably. People like to use economic metrics like GDP and other things to measure how well a country is doing, but forget one of the most important things about economics. Having a lot of money means nothing if you're citizens are suffering. The economy is supposed to be an indicator of how well off a country's citizens are, it's not the goal it's a means, but that's not how we treat it so we're at a point where we'll let people suffer for the sake of the economh
I was going to suggest the content creator go get a job working 65 hour weeks in hazardous conditions that afforded him the chance to take a week long trip once every four years while wealthy people fly to SPACE for fun. But I suppose you got the point across in a manner he may be more receptive to.
Agreed, people use Economic indicators like GDP per capita, which is a flawed metric, real metric is value of the currency of that country. Nigeria GDP per capita is higher than India does that mean Nigeria is a richer country, ofcourse not, India is economically much better than Nigeria or Bangladesh because its currency is valued at a much higher price when compared to USD
Happiness is subjective
@@pksingh3232 man what 💀💀💀, it is part of it, but the value of the currency isn't everything that determines standard of living
Agreed, I'm far more concerned with the well being of the lowest classes than how rich the rich are.
@Hindus the 800 year slave ?
@@AmoebaInkthat's a whole different world experience and view,and history.
@@wallyreyes8876 I think the Hindus comment must be in response to something UA-cam is no longer showing me, hm.
I can understand your point of view. For me, who's more focused on crushed planetary boundaries and ecological life support systems, both rich (ecological ceiling) and poor (social foundation) matter tremendously. So, I don't disagree but it's a radically different way of looking at the economy if you add that perspective.
@@BoonBreyne Protecting the environment is definitely a quality of life issue. Being poor is more incurable when you have clean air and water and safe food to eat.
I really like how the Northern European countries function. Meaning all Scandinavian countries, Uk, Netherlands and Germany. I feel most at home here because of policies, law, cityplanning and standards. America was a shock on many levels in that sense (especially two party system, cityplanning, no good social system, wealth inequality). Australia/New Zealand also come close to many of the standards as Northern Europe for as far as I know at least more than america. I hope in the next decades countries share knowledge and best practices instead of conflicts, bans and wars.
The Alpine countries, especially Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and Austria and soon Slovenia are doing better than Germany and partly even the Northern. I wonder why everyone ignores them. Maybe they like long, dark, freezy winters.
You don't care about Military Industrial Complex of US !? With wars how will US economy and it's super power survive!?
Out of all Scandinavian countries only Norway has higher GDP per capita than US (per IMF, 2023). UK, Netherlands, Germany are all lower than US. So, they should be studying America for how to do it right!
@@johng4093 GDP is a very limited metric for "doing it right". GDP does not account for leisure time (avg US worker works more hours per year than w-EU). GDP accounts for environmental, education, and medical spending, but does not include actual air pollution, literacy, life expectancy etc. And the most glaring issue is of course the fact that it is an average, so a 5% rise in GDP does not tell you whether everybody has gained 5%, or a specific group has gained much more while everyone else stays the same.
They have to provide next to nothing in national defense (thanks to the US who provides %80 of NATO's funds) and they have a HUGE nationalized oil industry constantly pumping money into the public trust. THAT'S why they have what they have. They are an extremely lucky and EXTREMELY non-duplicatable economy.
As a Dutch resident, I can tell you a lot of the info in this video is incorrect. You don’t get more than 100% of the mortgage, mortgage is not tax deductible
That's not exactly what he said.
@@lamalien2276 the video is incorrect in many places. It uses completely bogus numbers that don't make sense as he applies numbers from 2015 when the housing prices were at there lowest and applies them to 2019 when they were super high. Of course that is going to cause discrepancies
@Albert Felsen misschien als je als ondernemer jezelf een hypotheek verstrekt in box 2, maar de hypotheek van de gewone burger valt in box 1 en dus kun je je hypotheekschuld niet aanwenden om de belasting in box 3 (vermogensbelasting) te drukken.
This video explaines it perfectly: ua-cam.com/video/tW_kw6OPXc0/v-deo.html
Already confirmed
As a Dutchman, I can say that many of the facts that are put forward are incorrect. As an example the mortgage interest deduction, this works really differently than stated.
And also the part where you can borrow over 100% of what your house is worth. After the 2008 mortgage crisis, this is not possible in the Netherlands anymore and banks expect you at all times to have some cash of your own to invest into the property, on the contrary what the video claims, the legal limit of borrowing in contrast to your house's worth is 100% and no bank will give it to you.
Can you explain how it is different?
@@svenNL He did say "Until recently", I took this to mean that it changed. I am sure there are still people who have old loans that borrowed more than 100% of the home value.
Dat verhaal over de NHG rammelt ook aan alle kanten.
Yeah it’s a narrative. That’s how Things work now. You start at the end. “What narrative do I want everyone to get on board with.” Then you create other narratives to sustain your main narrative. Welcome to stupid
Nice video. It would be great if you list the sources of data of your videos (in this case the study you mention).
It would help people do their own research and would add credibility to the content you’re creating
Did you get it? still cant find it... I think some people are trying to hide something
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The SVB situation is a reminder that Fed hikes are having an effect, even if the economy has held up so far," It's precisely at times like these that investors need to be on guard against the next certainty. You don't have to act on every forecast, hence i will suggest you get yourself a financial-advisor
The information in this video is outdated by almost 10 years. After the housing bubble the Dutch government put systems in place where loaning more than 100% of a mortgage is not possible. That is combined with having to have a downpayment of 20% on the worth of the house. This is one of the reasons why millennials in the Netherlands have the lowest home ownership rates in Dutch history.
Yea, and who do we thank for that?
Yeah, dumb government (or rather the VVD, party of the rich, whom obviously rather own those houses themselves and RENT them out for profit to the rest of us...
@@Arghore better them than SGP
The banks did not learn from 2008, the house bubble is on the max again and will soon inplode, the banks will get pointed out as the big problem and will converse in a national bank. The great resset ;)
@@dutchgamer842 Sure, they're better than SGP, but that's a pretty low bar to beat...
Besides, the SGP only gets about 2% of the vote every election, so they're not really a serious competitor.
As a dutch person, i want to correct a few things:
1st) once you own more then one house the mortage is not tax reductable anymore. There are however different systems you can apply to but they are all based on buisness model.
2nd) Every government funded loan, has a 25 year failsafe plan, that means that after 25 years all remaining loans are considered abolished if your income is not above a certain amount.
3rd) Inheritence can be wavered, wich means you will not inherit debt from your parents.
4th) Unlike many other countries, housing in the netherlands is considered a commodity not an investment.
This video is LITERALLY 'the opposite of what is true'. Its basically propaganda for the american population to argue "our society may be shitty, but it HAS to be shitty because 'nothing else works'"
@@mikearchibald744 the moat americanargument ever
Thank you very much for your additions. I see this video as more a criticism of the Gini coefficient than anything, but I'm glad I learned a lot about the Netherlands in watching it as well.
@@eboracum
The video also uses bad data. The data isn't *incorrect* per se but part thereof is from a very specific moment in recent Dutch history which screws it up. If anyone here has seen U.S. unemployment graphs which include early 2020, it's essentially like trying to calculate things about American employment and using that spike as a baseline.
Housing is absolutely an investment here in the Netherlands. What are you talking about. We have plenty of huisjesmelkers
As a legal scholar, the Roman Dutch law prior to the introduction of the Napoleonic Code was the pinnacle of private and finance law in the world, even until this day. Roman Dutch legal principles make most western systems look like kindergarten law, being made up as they go. We use it to formulate really effective laws for cutting edge technology and finance across many jurisdictions.
Fascinating, thank you.
Any sources to read about this more?
Roman law was taken away because modern law is more profitable. Dutch capitalists invented speculation and slavery. Two system that favor the already wealth..
.
A barista in the Netherlands makes a living wage, not so in the US. They also get paid maternity leave. Paid medical leave. Firing protections.
Just making an adjustment to your story. I am a Dutch economic historian and some things are not wholly accurate. First, i like how you explained the mortgage interest taxdeduction, this is a difficult concept so praises there. However you cannot loan more than the market value of the house since the mid 2010s. Also the mortgage interest tax deduction only applies to the first house you buy, so the real estate portfolio thing is not completely accurate either as you only get that tax break for the mortgage interest on one house, not multiple.
There are some other issues in your video that might require nuance. Higher education subsidies have decreased dramatically and student debt is on the rise here due to high tuition fees at an average over 16k and climbing each year. Also healthcare is only semi-universal. It is a hybrid system where there is an annual own risk premium and a duty to have a private insurance. These are just details but they are important nonetheless.
Also, he cannot be right on the inheritance issue. Dutch law specifies that all children are entitled to a “legitimate portion” of their parents’ estate and this cannot be undone by a will. This undercuts more or less the entire “400 years of accumulated wealth” story.
That the mortgages are guaranteed by the government and that Dutch operate as tax haven for international companies makes me think that government has been highjacked to serve special interest of the rich. Capitalism for the poor, socialism for the rich.
@@frankteunissen6118 well, yes and no. Historically primogeniture was practiced especially in the most wealthy families so there was a substantial period of time for which that statement is valid. Yet in contemporary periods this practice has been more or less disappeared.
@@zfvr also that guarantee is only up to home mortgages up to €300k or something like that (I might be off here by some margin). Although it is true that this benefits more wealthy people, it also opens up access to capital for people with lower though stable incomes to buy property. Thus in a way it also increases social mobility.
16k for university? That's more expensive than Canada! Seems unbelievable.
As one of the young beneficiaries of that 110% Mortgage policy 30 years ago, I was amazed at how easy it was to buy a house with no collateral. Today I'm, as the Dutch say, "Stone Rich" and extremely thankful. My kids got great educations, medical procedures that would have bankrupted me in the States have been covered by a robust health insurance, and I may wince at the taxes I have to pay, but I'm happy to see the evidence of them being well spent on a daily basis, from infrastructure improvements like bike lanes and new bridges to the near absence of homelessness.
"i dont mind paying high taxes because we get bike lanes"
and for a working class person with no kids, they will also pay for your kids degrees. because why should one person be responsible for things when we can spread the burden to everyone 💡
@@johnsmith-fk7fw some people want a decent society with a well educated, healthy workforce, which equals prosperity and innovation. Unlike somewhere like, say, America, which has the worst health outcomes of any developed nation, the worst infant mortality rates, and yet the highest levels of medical Debt, no decent transport infrastructure, poor education outcomes, and can't even provide all its citizens with clean safe drinking water, not to mention the incredibly bad mental health which leads to things like children regularly being shot in school.
@@hesterwright3674 those are great things, but they are forced on everyone even if they dont use them and then forced on working people. like if im a construction worker with no kids, i still have to pay (a lot) for rich people's kids school. seems unfair
@@johnsmith-fk7fw the vast majority of people do want and use them, and it's not forced on you, you can always go and live somewhere undeveloped if you want to. Go live in the forest and build a hut and pick berries and collect water from rivers to survive. Except you don't want to, because the quality of life would be terrible and thousands of things that you take for granted every single day would be unavailable to you. Basic things that you barely notice as you're so used to them. The fact that you even have a job in order to be taxed on your income in the first place is based on the fact that society has throughout history used taxes to build an entire civilisation and infrastructure in order to even be able to create those industries and therefore jobs.
@@johnsmith-fk7fw except that ignores that you live in society. You say that you don't benefit from the whole of society being better educated and more mobile economically. That you don't use, in any way, directly or indirectly, the services or output of that person who you've enabled to get a better education and so on.
I would disagree strongly with that. I would be willing to bet comparing your interactions with people that work low paid service jobs in The Netherlands and USA would show the difference adequately.
A standing ovation and warming welcome to this inequality with justice & wellbeing 👍
I’ve pointed this out for years. Inequality only describes comparative wealth, it doesn’t describe objective standard of living.
You could be a millionaire but if you’re living in Monaco amongst billionaires you are experiencing inequality…it doesn’t mean that you have a bad life.
Yes it does. People can be perfectly happy and healthy living in a tent, but most people are going to be severely deppressed because they compare their lives to others. Buddhist monks have already proven you don't need anything to be happy and fulfilled.
This feels like one of those videos where you had an idea in mind when you started making it and then found ways to reconstruct the data to support your initial idea instead of changing your conclusion based on what you found out through your research.
After reading the comments and watching the video I actually feel like most people pause the video and made a comment before watching all of it. They pretty much said that the metric is misleading 8:50 and 13:57. Their next point was raising taxes don't work because the rich people have a loophole 12:06 .
@@pleasedontwatchthese9593 Except that almost all the data in this video is incredibly cherry picked or just flat out wrong. So it most certainly is the case of they had an idea, didnt find enough to support their idea, so instead of changing the idea they just fabricate the data by misrepresenting statistics or straight up using wrong data
@@RepstarVixen what's wrong ??
@@Geno420 ua-cam.com/video/tW_kw6OPXc0/v-deo.html
I wasnt expecting a comment like this to be upvoted honestly. Unfortunately I have felt the same way about this channel recently. I suspect its because of the fast upload schedule, as ideas and research takes alot of time and thought, either with a large team or a very slow upload schedule. People seem desperate to get their opinions out to others, but there is a gross oversupply of these "educated opinions" on the internet. I cant help but feel that quality information and education is difficult to find on the internet, ironically because too many people want to "teach others"
I sound like an old fart .-.
My friend who lives in the Netherlands said "The poorest dutch people are much wealthier than the poorest people of most other nations"
True, and this channel is ignorant of that fact.
That’s true of every developed nation. The same is true with the US.
@@AB-qt4dj no it isn't, read what I said. Someone who is poor in America is not on the level of someone who is poor in holland
@@AB-qt4dj I have been in the US about 20-30 times now. The poor areas in the US rival slums in Africa. It is atrocious and somewhat shameful. It's nowhere the same as most of western Europe
@@AB-qt4dj have you ever been in the poor parts of the us? People working 70 hours a week and still not making enough to survive. Having to choose between paying rent, food or medical attention. Poor people in the Netherlands dont have to deal with that.
On the industry side, you missed to mention that the Dutch have the most important technology company of all Europe, and one of the most crucial ones worldwide involved on the making of semiconductors: ASML.
The Pareto principle is a phenomenon that cannot be nullified through tax rate. The larger population we have the more unequal we will be in terms of wealth.
At this point it's safe to say that you have absolutely no idea what the Pareto principal is.
@@luitzenhietkamp Is what I said false and does it not reflect the Pareto effect? If so tell me how.
Mark Twain once said, "There are lies, there are damned lies, and there are statistics". Numbers can say anything you want them to without proper context.
Yep. Statistically, it's safer to drink and drive than to drive sober. Of all the victims of RTA, most were sober when they died: ergo, sobriety kills!
Yeah and this video has no interest in the truth, just pushing views and its own free market dogma.
Cherry picking data.
@@klang180 Just what is the truth? I am going to guess you know it and the rest of us are stupid.
@@klang180 The opinions given are pretty well separated from the designated “facts”. Are these facts wrong? If not, what’s your complaint? You’ve learned a little bit more about the issues of income and wealth inequality relatively easily. The thing that would be really nice would be a bibliography for the further study that would be necessary for reaching informed opinions about he issues.
the inequality may be super high... but the bottom rung is still way higher than the average in the rest of the world...
Yes they mentioned that in the video
this should be a joke or a mistake, Gini index is 0.26 for Netherlands, one of the lowest. Inequality in Netherlands is actually equality!
Who made this ? Millionaires?
Uh......this video does NOT show we can't reduce wealth inequality Taxes. It just shows you gotta do in the right way. High Inheritance Taxes, Progressive property taxes, Laws that make trying to take wealth out of country trigger massive punitive taxes. , taxing walll street, significantly increasing taxes on dividends, Putting almost the entire social cost on the top wealthy as they have exponentially more money than the rest of the country combined, change Capitalistic culture to place limits on the idea that it's all about the bottom line and get rid of the concept hat wealth ='s person value.
Why has this not happen? THe wealth inequality also lets a few people make ALL the decisions via bribes (I mean, campaign donation) buyouts, payoffs, and basically being able to use Money as a solution to everything, including breaking the law. Once again, the issues isn't that INCOME taxes don't do anything, the issue is that we need to find much better ways to tax wealth in addition to income.
Yes. A person below retirement age that creates no REAL value in the world should have there wealth slowly reduce over time. If you don't do that, the rich become the equivalent Parasite Landlords from China's ancient past. How did China solve that problem? Killed anyone who smoked opium and take all there assets. (Parasite landlords were infamous for doing nothing but sit around smoking opium 24/7 and taking all value made from servants hard work and wasting it on NON productive things.
True.
It is not about
everyone wanting to be ultra-rich but
everyone wanting to be independent and in control of his own life including a perspective.
Kind of incredible how so many people watched the video with tinted glasses or didn't actually finish and missed that he was not badmouthing Holland or saying that wealth inequality is okay. A testament to short human attention spans and confirmation bias. Look at some of the highest liked comments that should really go watch 14:04.
It's unbelievable how clear it is that people didn't make it past the halfway point in the video before heading to the comments.
The Netherlands is consistently ranked as one of the happiest nations and one of the economically strongest.
The World Happiness report is only a relative study.
Weed
Het blijft een schijthol.
Lol that's bc it is. This video I wayyyyy off. Not having to put up collateral on a house is a GOOD THING lol this channel is WHACK.
This is false. The Netherlands is not even top 15 in economy. Don't take my word though look it up.
What does ' the most unequal' really mean? Answer: whatever you decide to measure.
Yes, you can measure both wealth and income inequality. The Netherlands has the highest wealth inequality, but not the highest income inequality.
The fundamental claim of this video is false.... You just need to look up the World Bank data. Or use common sense... How can one small country be the only country below world average?
Any index or raw data isolated can be twisted to show almost anything, one always needs context!
@@MrAwawe The problems is defining what 'wealth' means. It could for example mean sum of current assets and liabilities or sum of current and future assets and liabilities.
Then there is the issue of defining what is counted as current/future isn't straight forward. Does a pension count as future or current asset? You paid for it already, but you will not get it until you've reached a certain age. What is it's current value since depending on what happens it may appreciate or depreciate in value.
How should the debt in this video be counted? If the government guarantees payment of it, even if it the house is worth less, is the difference between perceived house price and debt really negative wealth? Going even further, how do you count non-liquid assets? If someone owns a car, clearly it has value but what is it? A house has a value, but what is it?
Then there is government assets, do they mean anything for wealth of it's citizens? There will be value in those assets, but how and who does it get accounted to?
Even if you define all of this, how you define it can greatly skew the results for some countries (see this video).
Yes that's it.. What does "the most unequal" mean? Even the poorest of the poor in the Netherlands would still have access to a living wage, free healthcare, free or inexpensive tuition, parental leave, etc. At that point, it does not really matter if you do not have a whole lot of extra money for yourself.
Great video! Feels like there’s relatively little talk about wealth inequality from an intergenerational aspect, but this was well constructed video on the matter.
I love this!!!! Thanks for your insight, and the jokes. Lol
8:26 Yes they are literally underwater.
glad someone got the pun
Not everyone is. Just the provinces South-Holland North-Holland, primarily.
Edit: totally forgot about Flevoland and appairently Friesland as well. Still a lot of provinces still arent underwater, like Noord-Brabant, Limburg and Overijssel
@@Emperor_Atlantis Flevoland... is entirely underwater.
@@AlexFlodder Oops totally forgot about that province to be honest xD
The Netherlands is not 'literally' underwater. About 25% of the country is below sea level, but not underwater. Although, maybe the Atlantis myths were actually about the Netherlands all along.
Last time I was this early, tulip bulbs were a high-yielding investment
Bah! Everyone goes for the easy stuff. Nobody has given one like "Last time I was this early, Flevoland was still being pumped out" or "the Zuider Zee was still ocean".
No, I'm not Dutch (Australian, like the video maker), nor have I visited there (though I'd like to). I just think their water-engineering is cool.
@@Roxor128 Also Australian, I have been to Amsterdam but did not like the place.
How old are you
You telling me everyone who live in Netherlands is rich? No proverty?? Misleading Bruh 🤦
The wealth inequality problem is all around the low taxes and the attraction of entrepreneurship. So high social expenses of budget (and high taxes) make inequality just worse. But what do you need: more social guarantees, or a very low chance to become a richer person?
What you need, is votes. So you make social programs that solve nothing, make poor even more poor, because common folk don't understand how taxes even work, you get a good PR, you get reelected.
@@HyperVegitoDBZ we need panzers) Tanks and personal fighting carriers) Hail Ukraine)
If we take an utilitarian view then higher safety net benefits the most people regardless of what individual ones think. Statistic tell us that a small number of folks or less than 1% will make it rich hence whatever benefits the vast majority would be the right answer.
As a Dane, I think the reason an average employee, don't accumulate that much wealth, is because we have this huge safety net, so we don't have to save a lot of money, in case we get unemployed or sick.
Good point, why not spend more when interest rates are awful and the safety net will catch you if things go badly!
In borderline socialist states, like Denmark, the state plays the role of a momma and a citizen is a child. So you are naturally treated like a moron who can't think on his own and save for his own future.
And wealth is also amassed through private investments, which is hard to come by if there's a strong government/ safety net
@@Heyu7her3 I don't follow your logic at all, American?
Also who cares what someone else makes. If I have a small pizza and that is *more* than enough to sustain me. Why should I care that others have a medium to extra large? Sure it would be nice to have a larger one but I don't need it so why demand someone give something up simply because they have more. Maybe their skills are much more valuable than mine and they worked hard for that larger pizza.
Title should have been: How The Dutch Economy Shows We Can't Reduce Wealth Inequality With *income* Taxes
And we absolutely have to do it?
Oops. Just made the same comment 18 hours too late.
Wealth tax anyone? Yeah I didn't think so. Funny how a tax that only effects the top 1% is somehow universally unpopular.
@@NedJeffery Strange indeed - because you know, no way this 1% will find the way to make others paying it through rising prices.
Also - how it is unpopular, I wonder? From what I can see, the amount of people willing to take someone else money is enormous.
@Lúzia A Morta bad argument. See I agree with you. But how much is too much? See in my country, and in most others. The current amount is 0%. I don't know what the right amount is. But I think that 0% is too low.
An "economist" (read amateur mathematician) explains how economic metrics are not good indicators for economies. Thanks, it's almost like all these metrics are best guesses from other similar more rigorous fields that someone applied to something that "looked about the same", didn't do any real testing on (because they can't), and then just bloviated about some correlatives for a bit because as we know past performance always predicts the future.
Economics, basic statistics done at a scale so large they can never be proven wrong.
Great Video! I love your clear, thoughtful, reasonable discussion of economics issues. I so wish more politicians and voters would listen to economics thinking like this!
Thank you for putting English subtitles on this great video, it really helps people with deafness like me
I wasn't ready for the earnest ending, I was expecting a roast on his pronunciation XD
@@user-nf9xc7ww7m I wasn't implying he's bad, it's just that on the internet a roast is more likely than a genuine thank you :P
For future video watching, On the bottom right of the video display, (where the settings are) You should see a CC. It stands for closed captioning.
What? Speak up.
Subtitles are preferable to listening a smart-alec Antipodean. I´m not deaf, but after 2 minutes I´d breached my patience levvy...
As living in the Netherlands I do not recognize this. A mortgage for a house is maximized to 100% of the sales price, but you still need to pay the K.K. (transfer costs) from your own expense and lending more than 6 times your annual income is not accepted. Only for the home you live in you can get the tax reduction, for more houses there are other rules.
Still much better than other Eu countries where population declining exactly one of the cause of unaffordable housing. Not to mention social mobility.
@@danielhorvath2579 - how would a declining population make house more UNaffordable? It would logically create a reduction in demand, which should drive costs DOWN.
@@edphillips2998 No. One reason of the population's decline is the expensive housing.
But even if a population is declining it doesn't mean cheap housing because there many factors. Like Airbnb. Also the Stockholm example where people going to marry later so many house intended to hold a couple or a family only hold a single person. Which mean double the houses to be needed for this generation. Also the high population fluctuation. Maybe people can afford a house in Detroit compared to their San Francisco salary but they don't move there because the lack of jobs, and low incomes. So yes. People started to concentrate in some areas meanwhile some areas are almost empty and people there live in deep poverty which makes them unable to move to locations with better opportunities because at these locations th housing price (including rent) is out of their financial range.
@@danielhorvath2579
THE LADY OF HEAVEN
ua-cam.com/video/1MaDAW0jRYM/v-deo.html
---- -- ----
فيلم سيدة الجنة فاطمة الزهراء عليها السلام
ua-cam.com/video/paFh1tL3w7Y/v-deo.html
This should be higher, correcting the mistakes
2:42 can we take a second to appreciate how cute this cat is??
Could you please provide a link to GINI rankinks 2019 study in conjunction with credit Suisse wealth report? Can't find such study.
Credit Suisse report doesn't contain information on Netherlands and Sweden. World bank rankings for 2019 got much different scores. And both of them doesn't contain any data World GINI rating. Or did you calculate this by yourself? How?
As you mention yourself the richness of the richest is less than in some other countries but also the ‘poor’ citizens are also (much) better off than those in many other countries. As a Dutch citizen with a low income I can say we are one of the most spoiled countries in the world. In reality inequality is much extremer in many other countries
Dutch people sure are spoiled i can say that.
When you don't take pensions into account for one of the biggest pension countries in the world....
Bad stats.
The pension will have to be abandoned as the demographics crisis manifests.
@@onagain2796 demographic crisis🤨
@@ethanwilliamson782 People are getting too old while there aren't enough young people to back up the costs of the elderly. Thats why a cut in pensions is being reviewed
The video is about wealth inequality (and specifically how wealth inequality on paper doesn't necessarily translate to a bad quality of life for those supposedly among the "poor").
Are Dutch pensions government pensions - or private pension funds (aka Superannuation here in Australia)?
A government pension is (weekly or fortnightly) "income" to the recipient, whereas only a private fund could be considered "wealth". If Dutch pensions are government pensions then they would rightly be left off the wealth statistics (and one more reason why people may live comfortable lives despite not being "wealthy" on paper).
What does pensions have to do with wealth inequality?
The dutch east india company money investing in Heineken was really interesting and how the wealth is spread through families is so aristocratic in nature yet so modern in it's integration in modern capitalism.
If you listen to the end, this is actually quite a positive view of Netherlands.
"I'd much rather be in the bottom 10% of the Netherlands than the top 10% of Ethiopia." And this my child is the reason why Africans try to immigrate to Europe and South Americans try to immigrate to N. America.
which still doesn't make it right. fix your own house.
@@moncorp1 Easier said than done. Thing is, Europe was their builder.
@@moncorp1 could Europe leave Africa ?
@J van Sevenhoven doesn't help when the fox covertly supports the tiger
Then they regress Europe into Africa and N America into S America because they thought their country was the problem.
I bet those old rich families have just been HODLing tulips for the last 400 years
To the moon in 2021, I prommise.
I'm just baffled how no one has protests about how so many folks have wealth from colonization.
@@baronvonjo1929 because it's a dumb thought.
@@baronvonjo1929 One is not responsible for the sins of their ancestors. there are skeletons in EVERY family tree. Some reaps benefits, others don't. It would be asinine to try to separate and "punish" or equalize in this way. Especially for mixed heritages. If one is a descendant of a slave and slaveowner, does he have to pay himself back? lol And then there is the issue of tracking this all reliably.
Im pretty sure indonesia already forgave them and if not indonesia would be a hypocric for currently colonizing east borneo.
Would love to see Your take on Estonias economy and changes that seem to be on the way from tax rate changes and other decisions. Estonia has taken the direction of going more strictly towards zero-budget( expenses to not sucseed income) and at the same time becoming more green/ecological in all areas of life. Is it actually good to take those steps and how devastaiting current decisions may become to the lower income households?
Appreciate the attentions!
Worried, but still hopeful estonian.
I love your take it makes sense I wonder if we could do that in the states.
I'm South African
Pretty sure we are God level when it comes to wealth inequality.
By God level, you mean 'nobody pays any tax'?
@@CurrieNerd people pay tax, the tax base is not very big tough
@@CurrieNerd No, it means that a minority of a minority of the country owns 90% of the country's wealth. In South Africa, you could be travelling along fancy buildings and nice gardens only to approach a massive ghetto that can span tens of kilometers two minutes later. And I when I say ghetto, it's nothing like in the U.S, it's bad, it's very bad. There are patches of partially running water, hardly any electrical coverage and this results in illegal connections. People's houses are far and in between normal brick houses and shacks and tents. There are barely any roads and basic social services such as medical centers, schools and other types of social buildings are far away and those that are close enough are underfunded, understaffed and overwhelmed. Gang violence and extreme poverty plague alot of these areas and worse yet the workers that travel many kilometers everyday to work for peanuts get blamed for it by white people and rich black people. I'm a white guy living in South Africa, I'm poor and struggling, but man, it is nothing compared to what many people have to go through in these informal living zones that were promised to be improved by national and provincial government decades ago. South Africa is the most unequal country in the world.
@@julianmcmillan2867 I think you missed the point. Religious organisations generally don't pay tax on their income. 'God level' - a play on that fact - nobody paying tax.
@@CurrieNerd I think what the OP meant with reference to 'God level' was the tier at which South Africa's inequality sits. South Africa, like most modern democracies has a degree of separation between church and state. It is not always put into practice very well, but in many ways our country's intolerance for institutional religious power is vigorous. That being said, I think it's safe to bet that churches being taxed is not what the OP was referring to with the 'God level' remark.
I’m a Dutchman who finished listening to it to the end. ...I started listening thinking I was meant as a serious contribution to a political discussion and started making some notes:..however gradually it appeared to be Iso shocking full of nonsence I would propose to the makers of this UA-cam thingme to introduce a laugh track after each of the statements.
Should you not make some serious investigation before publicizing such a contribution?
Money & Macro provides a brilliant response to EE and explains why EE's theory is wrong : ua-cam.com/video/tW_kw6OPXc0/v-deo.html
@@juice8990 Isn't it ironic most of the criticizers are Dutch themselves? None of the metrics used are false. EE raises valid claims.
Don't call it research, call it journalism and you will get away with it, no matter how wrong or misleading.
Good points. But then in this age when even supposedly serious news organisations publish stories without any fact checking or proper research, I wouldn't expect much from UA-cam which is just entertainment.
@@precisi0n86 The first comment literally linked a video of 20 minutes debunking.
A great study in the inability of the Gini coefficient to completely describe quality of life.
This video gives the same argument I gave on the student loan video. Loans are not bad things, education is not a bad thing. State guaranteed loans does not just cause a massive spike in price but also encourage risky behaviour. Now the nice thing as explained in the video is that a home is a pretty solid asset and is far less likely to be wasted than student loan. Where people don't do well enough, quit or never find employment in their study direction.
The largest economy in Africa just went into its 2nd recession in 4 years. Perhaps a video on the Economy of Nigeria 🇳🇬 might be insightful. Cheers 👍
@North American UA-camr it is spam it's not the "real" Economics Explained channel
The answer is easy: Low oil prices.
Wait, Nigeria did what?
@@Seth9809 Recession. Again.
@@sualtam9509 One would think so... then again the oil sector contributes less than 10% of Nigeria's GDP
I’ve lived in the Netherlands for a year and it is one of the most fantastic qualities of life I’ve ever encountered, better than the UK. My first job there with no experience was €37,000 for the first year, €41,000 in the second year. They really are unbelievably great
What do you do here?:D
@@chrismiddel6349 Biotechnology Scientist now formerly Biotechnology Associate
@@jakkuwolfinsomnia8058 Cool! Sounds pretty interesting. Whereabouts do you live?
@@chrismiddel6349 I live in Amsterdam. It’s very cool 😎
Locals get paid less then you, you’d be shocked how little a nurse earns in this country. Not more then 25k a year
Guess we should just give up and fork over the rest of our money through taxs and let the rich get richer. Thanks you saved me time.
More info please. What transfer case did you use? Cool truck. Good work
This channel has said “this is perfectly fine, but...” so many times that I’m starting to think that it is not fine.
An economy in which everybody is seriously indebted, the state supports this, housing is insanely expensive, some families concentrate all the wealth and the nation is ageing? Well, certainly not everything is fine...
@@TR4R But they are comfortable.....and generally quite happy. Which is more important? Long term happiness or wealth.
This channel is simply propaganda, a quick search will provide you the fact that the Netherlands is far to be an unequal country.
And as the video goes on, it gets worse, this is radicalizing me further to the left if anything, why would someone make a video literally lying on every single point?
This is insane...
1- Brazil and America have both higher income and wealth inequality.
2- America is by far the society with the highest debt (for its citizens), whereas Germany is the country with least citizenry debt.
3- The Netherlands has robust worker’s rights (first place on earth)
4- The Netherlands has progressive taxes.
5- The Netherlands Government provides all essentials “for free” to their citizens.
6- The Netherlands is like that because of Reforms, conducted by socialists, marxists, syndicalists, through representative democracy. Every single win for the people and the workers in the Netherlands came from the struggle of organized workers inspired by the goal of achievement socialism
8- Socialism is workplace democracy. I know Americans and Australians don’t know this, so I wanted to make it clear, here in the Netherlands we have a long story with socialism, it dates back to before Marx, the fact of the matter is that skilled workers here know / knew that their profits are being expropriated for no reason by the capitalist (the owner), and thus, workers do want socialism.
@@schrodingerskatze2162
1. Depends on which statistics are you looking at. Gini Wealth coefficients for 2019 which EE mentioned the Netherlands are indeed in the first place with a coefficient of 0.902 while its 2018 coefficient is 0.736. It kinda makes me less likely to take most statistical data seriously, since not that much changed in a year to merit such a change in the coefficient. So what it tells me is that in 2019 they used different methods to calculate coefficients and if methods can be changed every year, statistics can be manipulated in any way they want them to be.
2. According to IMF statistics of household debt as a percentage of GDP Netherlands are in 4th place, USA in 13th and Germany in 26th place. According to OECD data for household debt as a % of disposable income Netherlands is in 3rd place with 236%, USA is in 19th place with 104% and Germany is just behind the US with 96%.
3. Many developed nations have robust worker's rights, EE didn't say they don't have them.
4. Pretty much all of the countries have progressive taxes, don't see your point.
5. Maybe, don't know but again - what's your point, how does it affect wealth inequality?
6. and 7. Worker's rights have been improved across the World and many social policies have been introduced thus helping a lot of people to live better lives and getting a lot of people out of poverty but your statement that all workers want socialism is a bit of an overstatement. I'm a worker and socialism (if you mean the abolition of private property and making means of production publicly owned) is the last thing I want.
@@ziemelvs
When it comes to Gross National Savings (The representation of all debt within the country, from both households and corporations as well as public sector): data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDS.TOTL.ZS?year_high_desc=true
- It is true that households on average have a higher debt, but the National Debt matters more, households can easily sustain their debt if the National Debt is not extremely high since they do not need to compete with private corporations and the government for those loans.
When it comes to socialism, I meant workplace democracy, not state ownership of the means of production... Worker Cooperatives are socialist firms, the definition of socialism has always been workplace democracy, it just so happens that some people (marxist-leninists?) believe that you need to Nationalize all means of production in order to allow for - workplace democracy / socialism - to exist.
Germany and Denmark are countries which successfully attained partial workplace democracy through legislation, and the material gains from even a partial Workplace Democracy are well substantiated. Workers have the ability to increase their wages in a organized official way within the firm by means of democracy, maybe not to get the amount they actually produced, but to get a higher amount nonetheless.
When it comes to both income and wealth inequality (they are both Gini) : www.indexmundi.com/facts/indicators/SI.POV.GINI/rankings
As someone who has lived in both Brazil and America (pretty unequal) , as well as the Czech Republic and Finland (pretty equal), It is not difficult to see how inequality plays a massive role on trust, criminality, transparency, social relations and so on... Although my anecdote is just an anecdote, it is really not hard to find how income inequality is strongly correlated with social illnesses.
They don't really have a in depth knowledge of the Netherlands economy.
Yeah especially considering the "lackluster growth", which has been the highest amongst rich countries for decades now. Rich countries have simply exploited the economy as much as they can manage for now, meaning growth will only increase with innovation. Which can be seen in this example, better innovation = more growth.
@@kevinbot1314 I mean if we're comparing with the United States than the Netherlands might as well be a 2nd world rather than 1st world country. 2019 gdp per capita figures put the difference at slightly more than $10,000 dollars
@@NadeemAhmed-nv2br gdp per capita shouldn't be used to measure wealth however. As countries like Germany and finland are far lower. Yet they are far wealthier. Happiness or kkp(purchasing power index) are far better at displaying this.
@@NadeemAhmed-nv2br plus the national debt should be taken into account (as America's is absolutely enormous). Yet there is no "perfect" way to measure economic wealth, but these come closer.
@@NadeemAhmed-nv2br in the Netherlands everybody can afford health care, in the US not.
This is like having a cup of green tea and expecting immortality in return. Proportional taxes isn't just *A* method to curb inequality rather it is morally right thing to do.
Great video, thanks! I don't like old money doesn't fit with my idea of a democracy I don't like inequality, especially if it gets too unequal. The socialdemocratic approach (at least in Sweden) were I live, was for a long time to accept wealth inequality as long as there was room to make social progress in the form of for example proper housing for all, free education or a good medical system available to all citizens. Regardless of ideology, a good and secure start in life and a social security net that you can rely on when needed should be the first goal for all countries. Inequality in Sweden was to some extent, an ideological issue about 30-40 years ago but now the inequality and the total different opportunities in life from the outset is a harsh reality. It would be interesting to look at a video where you discuss the wealthy elites and the one's with lots of old money impact on culture or the look on the workplace and the role of work an consumption. The wealthy elites are not neutral parts of society - how do their views and power affect us and do we, a large part of the people, share their views on important subjects (such as working hours for example)?
I live in South Africa and the Netherlands cannot even begin to compare to the inequality present in this country
You clearly have poor comprehension skills. Did you even watch the video in its entirety to understand rather than to comment?The point was made that inequality isn’t an issue, poverty is. Also this is talking about wealth inequality as opposed to income inequality which is what SA suffers from…thanks to apartheid by the way which legalised a rogue for government to significantly spend resources to enrich a group based on their skin colour whilst under servicing another. But what’s interesting is that the ancestors of white South Africans are the Dutch…and some of those so-called dynastic wealthy Dutch families gained some of their wealth through stolen resources from the colonies like SA via the Dutch East India Company
South Africa has an enormous problem with _income inequality._
That's a different (and generally much more serious) problem than _wealth inequality._
@@mpetrison3799 income and wealth inequality are indeed different, but wealth inequality is near-impossible to measure, and when attempted more carefully than EE does, netherlands lands aboutrank 150, which is much closer to its income inequality ranking.
EE really botched this one up.
Well, it's the same dutch that created this inequality in SA. The same thieves and robbers who claim to be "AFRIKAAN".
Perhaps you mean "poverty".
I mean, inequality is not the problem. For instance, Venezuela is the poorest yet low in equality in the Americas. Chile is higher in inequality, but is the richest Latin America country.
7:51 This is not entirely correct. You can't just pay minimal taxes by putting all your income into real estate. You can only deduct the mortgage interest of one home (the one you spend the most time living in) from taxes, not the mortgage interest from any other real estate you might own.
And there is a max
Exactly same in India and I guess in many other countries.
The deal made in Europe was that in exchange for comfortable social safety net and some shared prosperity, the masses would not revolt and cut off heads.
Seems like a lesson that inequality doesnt matter as long as you have a good quality of life
I think my favorite part was that even if this video was correct in its thesis statement - which it's not, as the creator got several things wrong - it wouldn't actually matter all that much. Why? Because the policies in place that help the Dutch people consistently rank among the happiest and healthiest on the planet are *mitigating the negative effects of wealth inequality on the poorest people.* Drastic wealth inequality causes the lowest classes to be unable to afford things like medical care, time off of work, and good housing... which the Dutch policies are designed to fight back against.
Basically, Netherlands figured out that capitalism cannot thrive without socialism.
Capital needs to circulate, government has to step in to ensure that happens.
At least that's the non-humanist message I got.
@@ghostratsarah That's pretty much it, yeah. Unfettered capitalism will always result in massive wealth inequality, with the billionaires sitting on their dragon hoards and leaving the other 99% of the population to survive on the remaining 9% of the total wealth. It's unsustainable.
Are you sure that's inequality? Poverty would suit best what your trying to say, not inequality
@@Bolognabeef Poverty is kind of a symptom or comorbidity of wealth inequality. The two go hand in hand.
Let me tell you though, as a person that used to live in the NL and has lived in a bunch of countries in the world, no way it is the “happiest country” as they claim. Quality of life might seem high by looking at statistics, but it’s not even life in my opinion. Food is really bad (not even talking about taste here), no sun, no nature, people have to take artificial supplements all the time, high drug usage, high suicide rate, overpopulation and little human connection + they completely lost touch with the divine, everything is about convenience. If you come from a southern part of the world, you know how wrong it is and what it does to your actual LIFE force/soul/call it what you want. Life in poorer countries might be harsher but at least is Life :))) just my prospective ofc
This video is extremely misleading. I recommend its title be, “How the Gini Coefficient Fails.” Also, Sweden is not democratic socialist, it is social Democrat.
That's EE for you. He says his videos are about really broad things like the economies of nations then spends half of it talking about basic supply and demand
It doesn't fail. It has to be interpreted in a proper context.l, and it is just one metric.
@@James-cb7nb i was always confused by that thinking "surely there must more to it"
Sweden is pretty much socialist at this point. Just not officially.
@@stielimusterman3066 So the working class took over the means of production?
You can reduce wealth inequality with income taxes when it is not old money. And you can reduce wealth inequality with wealth taxes even if it is old money.
Fascinating video!
In the netherlands when you inherit welth you have to pay taxes for them, so its not as direct as you say it is.
Only like 15-20% though. If you're not increasing your capital by that much over a *lifetime*, you're not doing it right :P
True, but no wealthy family will pass on their capital in this way. They will accumulate the wealth in a company, which can be transferred under a special tax regime where only 2 to 3% is taxed.
Only for the wealth transfered upon death, the trick is to transfer as much wealth as possible to your relatives before that or have them in a place where the government cant tax them. Real estate in the Netherlands is generally useless, because you need to pay up to 30% of its worth to transfer it to another person so your going to need cash to do that.
Or sell their own property to you and over the years they remit the costs(I belief up to 100grand per year untaxed).. So you get the full property wkth little taxes
Hence why people end up selling their parents vacation homes upon death because they need the money to pay for the tax.. That can all be avoided if you transfered the deed to the property before that at a MUCH lower cost because your "selling" it to your relatives.. And take the hard cash to a place with lax taxations and transfer it there.. Deal with the inheritence mess, and then slowly drip it back in
Or you sell the property in the Netherlands before the person dies and you transfer up to 25.000 per individual per year to your relatives.. While true billionaires have a lot of different tricks up their sleeves..
@@DutchGabbers The 100k remittance is a one time thing, otherwise, looks correct to me.
@@mattd2185j Or other fiscal construction (Foundation, offshore trusts and etca....). The rich have always had options to keep their money safe from war and taxes.
So no one is going to mention how awesome the footage of The Netherlands is? Okay.
Capitalism
Will this help! "I want to kiss the neck of a nice lady from the Netherlands" hmmmm? 😏
Ye, the footage is crazy beautiful. I have been to the Netherlands but failed to travel to the countryside(( worst mistake
As a Dutch man, I can tell you it looks wildly different at 7 'o clock when you have to go to work.(At least it seems to)
That is why UA-cam has given the power to us to comment on stupid comments like yours. Read the Title of the Video before you go Ga Ga over the scenic beauty.
Factually spoken, not 100% accurate, but for the message, accurate enough. Good explanation :)
amazing video that explains the limitations of Gini coefficient
I don't think your video demonstrated the thesis in your title, it just demonstrated that the Gini index can be a flawed metric for analyzing quality of life and social opportunity.
Well, sort of. The title says that “we can’t reduce wealth inequality with taxes.” The Gini index measures income inequality. Obviously, taxes will reduce this. The point of the video is that, due to debt and inheritance, reducing income inequality may not have a significant effect on wealth inequality. It ended with the argument that wealth inequality may not be such a big deal so long as there is an adequate standard of living for those at the bottom and ample opportunity to increase that quality of life.
He did explain that a lower interest over a larger period of time far outweighs a higher interest over a shorter period of time. This shows that families who are already extremely rich due to being far older than the existence of the USA won't be greatly affected by high income taxes, as they already have tons of wealth prior to any hypothetical communistic tax law coming into effect.
metrics are what we use to measure things. If Gini is has been good for talking about inequality in almost all other relevant instances, it is a good metric to use in this one too, in the sense that we are keeping consistency. We are not wrong to say the Netherlands in extremely unequal even if our metric is flawed, because our definitions are consistent. The flaws in the metric might limit what we can say. In this example, EE had to go out of his way to explain how HDI in the country does not correlate with its Gini coefficient very well. But there's something funky with wealth inequality while taxes are skyhigh in The Netherlands alright.
Also not mentionning estate taxes
I am pretty sure he mentions that the entire video
One more thing - In Netherlands, someone who works 40 hrs a week as a line cook or unskilled laborer can afford to send his/her kid to Univ of Leiden and get all the healthcare the family needs. This cannot happen in the US, for instance.
This is what mature Capitalism should look like. Children are future wealth generators and consumers. It is in the interest of the country to properly house, feed and educate them. They also should not start life with crushing student loans or be derailed by unexpected medical bills.
And then you know why paying taxes is not so bad if they are spent on the country and not on the rich like in the USA. All European countries with high taxes (the northern European countries) are very rich countries with wealthy citizens. The european countries with low taxes can be rich too, but their citizens and infrastructure is less wealthy
Yes it can and does happen in the USA, and it does quite frequently
@@thesmalltownemercer3791 look at which nations students have slight debt and those in the US who unless rich end up with crippling debt.
@@patricktaylor5981 no, not always..many I know have even had scholarships or partial scholarships
According to the World Bank, the Netherlands is the 7th LEAST unequal country in the world in income. EE uses wealth data, but wealth data is notoriously hard to accurately collect. The World Bank didn't publish the wealth data, it was actually published by Credit Suisse.
The issue is also the tax system. They are working on changing it but the Dutch tax system knows 3 boxes. Box 1 is by far the biggest, and is the working people. Box 2 is invests and that kinda stuff which is moderately taxed and then there is box 3 which is barely taxed and is real estate. You earn more money with doing nothing and owning houses then actually working.
Real title: "How the Netherlands shows we can reduce inequality with smarter taxes"
I agree. It's notable that they said South Africa "is not that bad".
I've been to South Africa. I held the hand of a black kid in the township just north of Cape town where there are TVs in the mall bigger than garage doors.
South Africa is that bad when it comes to wealth inequality.
How about hitting the nail right on the head by making the title "We can reduce inequality with REALISTIC COMMON SENSE TAXES" inorder to make it have a HEAVY IMPACT on the heads of these insanely deranged leftists and unrealistic liberals.
Real titles don't bring clicks
“Whoooooosh!”
Did you hear that?
Why the F would you want more taxes?
You work hard and get a pay check that gets taxed. You take out a mortgage and that get taxed with interest. "HEY LETS ADD A TAX SO WHEN THEY SELL THEIR HOUSE THEY GET TAXED TOO" like why be punished for working, paying your taxes, and paying interest on loan. You paid your dues twice... and now lets take more.
This is just one of many examples the liberal left want to do that makes zero sense.
Mortgage rules have changed a couple of years ago in the Netherlands, you cannot over loan anymore and have to put in more own money to qualify for a loan.
Sick of "inequality" as some self evident "bad thing" Unless people are poor, they will never fight to get out of it. And win or lose. This is humanity's history.
Lol for most of human history. children had over 40% mortality rate, why did we stop it
Interesting choice of words. “Systems in place to ensure everyone has the ability to move up”. How can you ensure ability? You can strive for equal opportunity by ensuring there are not barriers in place preventing moving up.
“Sweden, the poster child of democratic socialism”
Me: *Laughs in low violent crime rates
As a born and raised dutch this video was a rollercoaster from start to end
lol why
@@hetimperley because it start with saying it's a bad system and concludes that actually it's a pretty decent system compared to the alternatives.
@@SyntheticFuture It's a psycopathic system.
@@apegrasshoplizard then what is the rest of the world?!?! Bc they are better in every single metric than the rest of the world so IDK what people don't understand this video is just hacky
@@shadeaquaticbreeder2914 better ?
You clearly have drank the dutch cool aid.
It is a narcostate and police state.
As a society very shallow and money focused. I have never seen such a spiritually dead and unempathetic people ever.
Welp, that explains why fictional vampires are so rich.
They literally invested a couple coins on a whim one night ten thousand years ago and forgot about it until about a decade ago.
Always thought that was clear to everyone 😅 endless time and total focus of wealth as they themselves are their single heir, combined with 0 costs for food, health, children or any other basic need and enough "spare time" learn and become good at pretty much everything... Even if they don't invest, every time they "eat" they could just take a person's walled and jewelry... But as they got no personal needs what else to do with that excess income. 🤷
Haha. Indeed
You're thinking transylvania bro thats in romania not the Netherlands
Time in the market, not timing the market. Vamps have unlimited time haha
As someone who has travelled the World, the Netherlands is by far the happiest place with the happiest people, regardless of wealth.
I disagree, the best place was Hong Kong until China took it back...
When average people have a decent life, the return of having a lot of money diminishes. Income inequality is only an issue if you live in a place where money for the most part determines the quality of life you have and people with more money can exploit those with less money. If you live in a place that provides a lot of nonmonetary resources such as good natural environment and supportive community, being rich really becomes less important.
Him: The dutch don't have student debt
me: laughs/cries in 30.000 euro of student debt
Haha eens gelijk😭😭😭
Still far lower than the U.S. If I wasn't on a full ride scholarship, 4 years at my school would run you 120k
I feel slightly better about myself now thanks
If you graduated in something that is useful it's alright.If your parents allow it you can stay 1 year at their place and repay most of it.
I get 250€ from the government every month to study. More then enough to cover my studying expenses. Im also loaning another 650€ per month for increased liquidity.
As a Dutch, I would like to state two fact in your video that are wrong.
A bank is not allowed to give you anymore then 100%of the worth of the house as mortgage. That percentage is reduced since the financial crisis. The Dutch government even wants to go deeper, as 99-97%. So you have to put cash down to loan.
And, the studies aren't heavily subsidized anymore. You have to pay back your tuition. You have decent terms (0%interest, and can take 10 years to do so), but still, you have to pay it back.
That system changed around 2006. Myself did not have to pay back anything if you successfully get your degree.
0% and 10 years to pay = VERY heavily subsidized
Why bother to try to correct the one- dimensional statements on UA-cam? Very few people will read them, and the host will definitely not.
@@joostvanlinge263 because i will.
This was debunked
@@Jacqueskneegro what was debunked?
In many countries there's a law called "family foundation", which (if used wisely) can be used to avoid the dillemma: split equally (and make wealth diminish) vs give most to one child (and be considered unfair).
Another great reminder that economics measurements are often not practical.
A quality of life questionnaire would do more than any economic figure ever could to explain disparity.