Sep 03 2008
And taxes for all…
Let me now write a post that I think only I, and perhaps my father, will be interested in 
.
Norway is a socialist country. The guiding principles here are about “the whole.” Because of this there is, what I consider, heavy taxation. 45% of your paycheque goes to the government, 25% of your purchased goods price goes to the government. Automobile owners also suffer, there’s a tax on fuel (not surprising), tires, the volume/size of your car, and every road in Oslo is a toll road. Though they’ve done away with the problem of stopping and paying at a booth by using a radio frequency transponder. Alcohol is taxed like sin… which it was until very recently (the Norwegian state church hates alcohol by the way). 35CAD for 350ml of Jack Daniel, compared to the Canadian price $15.85 for 375ml? It might be import costs, but that doesn’t explain the four dollars for a bottle of Heineken? Netherlands are closer to Norway than to Canada.
The picture is of a receipt for some goods I bought. Note the Moms % (moms = merverdiavgift, formerly meromsætningsafgift). Also, for those Polish among you, “takk” means “thanks” which always causes me problems when someone says “no thanks” as it’s “nei, takk.” Kvittering means receipt and kjop means buy. Cool huh?
What does it all amount to? I’m not entirely sure, I haven’t been here long enough. What I do know is that students have it better here than any country I’ve heard of, foreign students included. My tuition is free. On an absolute scale public transport for students is cheaper than in Canada , I paid less for a six month gym membership here than I would for a two month membership in Canada, shows/museums/galleries/tickets of any sort are cheaper for students often by large amounts. But students aren’t the only one’s who have it well.
For example, Norway agreed to send 25 billion kroner (crowns) to Africa this year. Don’t forget 25 billion crowns is equivalent to 5 billion Canadian dollars AND Norway’s population is four million. I leave the math to you.
There’s no doctor shortage here, in fact people have their choice doctors, as do students. I can change my GP on the internet if I want. The social net here is very strong and functioning well. Though the recent influx of immigrants, mostly from poor African nations, is now straining that net but any complaining is a risk due to political correctness.
The Norwegian populace is highly politicized in many ways. They don’t necessarily know what’s going on in their government, but everyone is very aware of everyone else’s political leanings. In fact political allegiance is one of the top ten descriptors you’ll hear when you inquire about a person. Also, the level of political correctness here makes me raise a glass to George Orwell. It’s illegal to criticize the monarchy or parliamentarians, which means news sources are very careful in how they present material. It’s very difficult to establish groups, political or otherwise, that go against the main grain of the national sentiment. They get hassled by the cops and so on.
I haven’t found what the minimum wage is, but I was told by a tax official that it’s uncommon to find any kind of work for less than 100NOK (20CAD) per hour. Remember though that things are on average twice the price of what they are in Canada. Which means that the huge tax rate really makes a dent in a household budget.
So how much is 50% of a paycheque worth?
Sorry about the content of this post folks, I realize not everyone is as interested as I in these kinds of things but this stuff has been on my mind and I have to get it out.
Such a good country I live in
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I’m not sure if I agree with the people being politically aware though. As a result of governmental control (?) I see most of them as sheep, following the rule without questions.
I think it’s a fine country. It has things like doctors… I’m not criticizing Norway, I’m just pointing out differences that I’m noticing with Canada.
I didn’t say people were politically aware, actually I’m implying quite the opposite. I said people were aware of everyone else’s leanings. What I mean by that is that everyone throws around the terms (socialist, democrat etc) and everyone has an opinion on what the politics should be. Politics here, even if entirely incorrect, are a focus of much attention.
I’m not saying that everyone necessarily knows how their government works or what it’s currently doing. It’s more of a political awareness on the person-person level than the person-government level.
I guess I mean that people here are uninterested/uncapable of reflection around politics?
So Tom, would you say that, overall, comparing Canada to Norway, it’s roughly the same, with respect to income and expenses? (if you factor in their prices, wages, taxes, etc) Or would you say that one country is a “more expensive” country to live in, or could you perhaps say that one of the two maintains a higher standard of living? I realize these are hard questions to answer because the criteria is a bit vague, but I’m interested in how countries compare on these points.
Those are excellent questions actually and the very same ones I’ve been trying to answer. My take so far is… (drum roll)…
Norway is more expensive when all things are properly considered. Here are my reasons:
Taxes are higher here as far as I can tell. I don’t believe that Canadians pay nearly as much in “government surcharges” as Norwegians.
The prices for most things can be said to be similar between Norway and Canada given the 2x multiplier for both wages and prices of goods. Except property. The great equalizer.
Where this little scheme breaks down is property prices. Property prices are something I didn’t mention, though I maybe should have. Property prices in Oslo, and my guess the other big cities as well, are at least three times what they are in Kitchener. Believe me when I tell you Borys, that your place would cost at least 500Gs here, though I think it would be more. It could be as high as 700G. Now consider your wages, your lifestyle and tack on a $600,000 mortgage. The problem is there are few options that are cheaper. Renting can still go up to 2000 a month and property ownership is, as I said, very expensive etc. There’s a reason for this, property prices here are not inflated (as much). More on this in another post.
Here’s what $360,000 buys you in an average part of town (same area as my student house is located), built in 1968 :
http://www.finn.no/finn/realestate/object?finnkode=14521029&sid=xz10cbaOW_5l006467&pos=null&tot=null
A news article about police jobs:
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article2632789.ece
Read that, I couldn’t help but think about you Borys when I came across the news article. Remember it’s 5NOK = 1CAD.
In rural areas, I think prices are a little different. But I can’t quite tell you how much different because I don’t know enough yet.
As for standard of living. That’s another good question and one I have much less of an opinion on. I’m tempted to say that the standard of living here is somehow better. I think it’s because of the social net and the society. Those are vague answers and I will come back to them as time goes on.
Remember that my brother payed 1,4 million NOK for his farm.. Oslo is much much more expensive than the country
I do remember that. I also remember the guy he bought it from was at the tail end of a messy divorce and wanted to get rid of the place quick. At least that’s what I was told.
However, I did say that I don’t know what rural prices are like. My guess is that it would be comparable to Canada. Where in town you can get a condo but for the same money you get a house with twice the area and a nice property in the country.
That’s just a guess though.