sohtym · HackerTrans

I've added the Bachelor's, Master's and Doctoral degrees. Out of 38 countries that puts Iceland and Finland in 9th and 10th. And Denmark, Sweden and Norway at 16th, 17th and 19th. So primarily Finland redeems itself. (Iceland maybe not so relevant as it is tiny). The rest are still slightly above the middle. Considering these are among wealthy countries it maybe isn't bad. But for being smaller countries with decent resource and high taxes that are also deindustrializing I wouldn't say it is great.

sohtym

3년 전discuss

Sweden technically has a property tax, but it is a maximum of ~900€ a year.

sohtym

3년 전discuss

> Contrast with a society where the average education might be lower, less people having a stable job in a slow labor market, and if you lose your job there is no safety net.

Educational attainment in the Nordic countries isn't actually that good. It might have been at one point. These days I think it sometimes looks good because some statistics count having any experience at higher levels, which having cost-free education facilitates. If you instead look at actual degrees the Nordic countries are average among OECD countries.

  Bachelor's degrees
  OECD Average 18%
  Iceland      21%
  Denmark      20%
  Norway       20%
  Sweden       18%
  Finland      20%

Countries above 21% in OECD: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Korea, Lithuania, Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States.

Source: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/b35a14e5-en/1/3/2/1/inde...

sohtym

3년 전discuss

Seems a bit general. Sweden is very much in debt because of the housing market. 15 years ago there were little regulation. You could get a 100 year mortgage with a variable rate and no money down. At the same time the government sold large amounts of public housing at below public market rate. Interest rates went from ~4% to ~1.5%. With no wealth or property taxes, but with tax deductions for renovations and interest rate payments. Most apartment buildings are co-ops, where the co-op have loans as well. Gradually there have been more regulation, but most still have variable rate mortgages which they are personally liable for and with no real a way to declare bankruptcy. Now interest rates will probably reach 4% again so hang on I guess.

sohtym

3년 전discuss

> When I've thought of all the possible crappy outcomes that might happen, I can be confident that whatever happens, I'll survive.

I've heard this before, but it never worked for me because I can imagine things going pretty bad. I do think there is a lot of undue optimism. An assumption that things will work out. They often don't. Maybe worrying about nuclear war isn't that productive, but we should all be a lot more worried about things like working environment, rising inequality and the cost of living. Ask Japan.

sohtym

3년 전discuss

It was specifically popular because it was free. There are other similar sites and also other services if you are willing to pay.

sohtym

3년 전discuss

Because they are potentially completely different processes. It is certainly possible, but what I see is a test fixture that could be made completely separate. Therefore it would be interesting to know if it wasn't, how they know that it wasn't and why Apple wouldn't on production lines costing many millions to billions.

sohtym

3년 전discuss

> So forget what you know about ATM PINs; this is a markedly different concept.

I mean it's actually the same concept (something you have, something you know) with a different implementation.

sohtym

3년 전discuss

> The official repair equipment is also an evolution of assembly equipment.

Are you saying that as a fact or is it speculation?

sohtym

3년 전discuss

It is fair to judge it as a self repair tool when it is presented as such by Apple.

sohtym

3년 전discuss

Europe really isn't that much better these days. Obviously it isn't as extreme as in the US, but plenty of people still have had their lives ruined because of the pandemic and most societies are pretending like nothing happened. I hope there is a European country that is set to be better in 10 years, but at least I don't know about it.

sohtym

3년 전discuss

The FAANG companies are 25 years old at this point, they aren't that relevant to today's situation. Europe has had many large companies going, but most got acquired by their US competitors. In part because they could use offshore assets and also avoid taxes once acquired.

But that is also only partly relevant, because the same is true of the US. If the US is doing so well by that metric where are the next US FAANG companies? The reality is that neither Europe nor the US moved up the value chain but sideways to primarily offer services.

That isn't because of manufacturing. Many think so because they don't know much about manufacturing. It is because of the cost of living. Western economies can't support a knowledge based ecosystem. I can have things made in Europe, or China. It doesn't matter. Where can I go and develop a product for years, or work my way up in a product company, or eventually hire a hundred people to do it, all without suffering? The answer is nowhere because the market is dominated by service focused companies that require less start time and have a less variable success rate. In China, its almost in every decent city.

sohtym

3년 전discuss

Which is exactly why it costs so much to live. That is how markets work, by allocating opportunities to those with the most money.

sohtym

3년 전discuss

Open source is by volunteers if you count it by volume. But probably not if you count by impact. Especially not if you include all the accompanying things like maintenance, packing and running software.

I think what is lacking from open source is reciprocity. Traditional copyright is extreme in that it reserve almost all rights. Open source is extreme in that is reserve almost no rights. The result is the same, the middle men gets all the power.

It isn't going to happen though. Because what is going to happen already is and it isn't that.

sohtym

3년 전discuss

Mainly because interest rates are lower. In the US the mortgage rate is ~7%, in at least some countries in northern Europe it is ~3%. And it used to be 1-2% recently. This however doesn't mean there aren't also a lot of inequality in Europe.

sohtym

3년 전discuss

$40k is less than the average salary in Sweden while $350k is probably at least top 5% in the US (even without all the very relevant differences).

Sweden for the most part sucks these days but part of that is the idea that you can lounge through some average free education and then get $350k while leaving early on Fridays.

Yes, some Americans are born wealthy and some have a lot of privilege. Everyone else, at least that I've known, works at it. Often for 15 years. Then they might get $350k, or laid off.

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