% employees working more than 50 hours per week in the USA, UK, Japan, France, Germany, Canada, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark and Sweden
10 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in labour economics, labour supply Tags: Australia, British economy, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Sweden, taxation and labour supply, working hours
Them Continentals certainly are a bit work-shy especially the Nordics. All of them are pretty much afraid to put in a long week. Then again they do face rather high taxes on labour so what would you expect? The Japanese are still working themselves to death.
Data extracted on 09 Mar 2016 22:25 UTC (GMT) from OECD.Stat – OECD Better Life Index 2015.
Social Security contributions as a percentage of GDP in the G7 countries
03 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in economic history, public economics Tags: British economy, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, social insurance, Social Security, taxation and labour supply
Source: Revenue Statistics 2015 – OECD 2015.
Japanese, Korean and US tax revenues as a % of GDP since 1965
02 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic history, growth miracles, public economics Tags: growth of government, Japan, size of government, South Korea
Japanese and Korean growth in the size of government seems to validate Directors’ Law. Government get bigger after countries become rich.
Data extracted on 23 Feb 2016 07:08 UTC (GMT) from OECD.Stat.
Japanese, Korean and US general government expenditure as a % of GDP since 1960
02 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic history, growth miracles, Public Choice, public economics Tags: growth of government, Japan, size of government, South Korea
Chinese, Hong Kong, Taiwanese and Japanese billionaires by source of wealth
24 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic history, entrepreneurship, financial economics, growth miracles, industrial organisation, rentseeking, survivor principle Tags: billionaires, China, entrepreneurial alertness, Hong Kong, Japan, superstar wages, superstars, Taiwan
Surprisingly few billionaires in any of the 4 countries obtained their wealth through political connections. Founding a company seems to be still the path of great wealth even in Japan these days. Hong Kong is a financial centre so the large number of billionaires in its financial sector is no surprise.
Public, mandatory & voluntary private social expenditure, G7, Nordics, Australia & New Zealand
20 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in applied welfare economics, economics of regulation, fiscal policy, labour economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, welfare reform Tags: British economy, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, social insurance, Sweden, welfare state
Mandatory and voluntary private social expenditure makes a big difference to the degree of social insurance in some countries but not others. The calculation of these numbers in purchasing power parity would be much more interesting.
Source: OECD Income Distribution database.
% social benefits in cash by income quintile, G7, Nordics, Australia and New Zealand
20 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in fiscal policy, income redistribution, labour economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, Public Choice, welfare reform Tags: British economy, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, social insurance, Sweden, welfare state
Some welfare states are much more targeted. Australia has the most targeted welfare state in terms of public social benefits paid in cash to the bottom quintile (Q1) of income earners.
Source: OECD Income Distribution database.
China controls dissidents abroad through relatives back home
06 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics Tags: China, dissent, Japan, tinpot dictatorships, totalitarian dictatorships
At graduate school in Japan, I was careful to rarely talk politics to Chinese students.
The reason was I assumed they were being spied on by fellow students at the behest of the Chinese security services.
Agricultural subsidies as a % of gross farm receipts in USA, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand since 1986
02 Feb 2016 1 Comment
in economic history, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: agricultural subsidies, Australia, Canada, cultural economics, Japan
Source: Agricultural policy – Agricultural support – OECD Data.
Agricultural support is defined as the annual monetary value of gross transfers to agriculture from consumers and taxpayers arising from government policies that support agriculture, regardless of their objectives and economic impacts.
From 1950, Japan doubled their standard of living every 8 years
02 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic history, growth miracles Tags: East Asian Tigers, Japan
G7, Australian, Danish and New Zealand average personal income tax and social security contribution rates
01 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, public economics Tags: Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Social Security taxes, taxation and labour supply, the dish economy
G7, Danish, Australian and New Zealand marginal income tax and social security contribution rates
31 Jan 2016 Leave a comment
in politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, public economics Tags: Australia, British economy, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, social insurance, Social Security taxes, taxation and labour supply
Ordinary French, Germans, Italians and Danish pay much higher marginal tax rates and that is before their high rates of GST.
Data extracted on 30 Jan 2016 03:08 UTC (GMT) from OECD.Stat.
Japan Keeps Defunct Train Station Running for Just One Passenger
09 Jan 2016 Leave a comment
in economics of media and culture, transport economics Tags: Japan
…ridership at the Kami-Shirataki station had dramatically fallen because of its remote location, and freight service had ended there as well.Japan Railways was getting ready to shut the station down for good—until they noticed that it was still being used every day by the high-schooler. So they decided to keep the station open for her until she graduates.
The company’s even adjusted the train’s timetable according to the girl’s schedule. The unnamed girl is expected to graduate this March, which is when the station will finally be closed.
Source: Japan Keeps The Defunct Kami-Shirataki Train Station Open for Just One High-School Girl – CityLab
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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