re: I read a lot on here from the other side that hates Trump

quote:

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Over the past century, Europeans have built
large welfare states, while the US has main-
tained a much less generous system. While
America spends about 11 percent of its national
income on social programs, France spends
almost double that amount; Nordic countries
spend even more. Relative to GDP, Europeans
spend more than five times what Americans do
on unemployment insurance and other labor
market programs. Not only European spend
more on social programs they also regulate
more in attempt more or less successful to
protect workers against business interests.
Labor market regulations are especially intru-
sive with rules like prohibition or high cost for
firing, mandate long paid vacation, short work
hours in a normal work week, generous sick
and maternity leaves, etc. For instance, most
European national governments mandate more
than 25 vacations days per year, while in the
US the federal government does not officially
mandate a single day free from work. The
amount of vacation is a private contractual
issue between workers and employers. Taxes
are not only higher but also more progres-
sive in Europe than in the US adding another
redistributive mechanism on the revenue side
of the government balance in addition to the
spending side. In Europe pension laws allow
early retirement, traditionally with special privi-
leges for public employees and women. It is not
unusual for men and women to retire in their
late fifties in Europe with full pensions. Some
countries are slowly trying to change these laws
but they find extremely strong opposition from
labor unions controlled by older workers and
pensioners. More than one European govern-
ment has fallen over pension reforms or had to
endure long periods of social unrest even for
relatively minor attempted reforms.

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quote:

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The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in millions of cases across the globe. The United States has one of the highest death rates due to COVID-19 across the world, and its mortality rates will likely increase. Due to different approaches to containing the virus across countries – as well as the quality and accessibility of health care – we may see diverging rates of mortality, disease burden, and other measures of health outcomes between the U.S. and comparable countries. This chart collection provides a baseline of how the U.S. already compared to similarly large and wealthy countries prior to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Facebook posts
stated on September 26, 2014 in a Facebook meme:
Countries with a higher minimum wage than the United States’ $7.25 an hour include Denmark at $21, Australia at $15.81, Germany at $11 and France at $12.35.
truehalf-true
NATIONAL ECONOMY WORKERS FACEBOOK POSTS
A reader sent us this social media meme about the minimum wage, so we checked to see how accurate it was.A reader sent us this social media meme about the minimum wage, so we checked to see how accurate it was.
A reader sent us this social media meme about the minimum wage, so we checked to see how accurate it was.


Louis Jacobson
By Louis Jacobson
September 26, 2014
Do other countries have a higher minimum wage than the United States?

One of the most popular Democratic talking points this campaign season has been to call for an increase in the minimum wage. A social-media meme that’s been circulating recently provides a justification for hiking the minimum wage -- namely that the minimum wage in the United States falls well below that of other advanced industrialized nations.

Here’s the text on the meme, which Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., among others, put on his Facebook feed:

"Minimum wages around the world in U.S. dollars: Denmark $21/hr., Australia $15.81/hr., Germany $11/hr., France $12.35/hr. United States $7.25/hr. Share if you agree we should catch up with the rest of the world."

We wondered how accurate the meme was, so we took a look.

Using foreign-exchange rates

There are two major methods for comparing minimum wages between countries. The meme uses the most basic way -- using exchange rates to convert the wage amount from the foreign country’s currency to U.S. dollars. Using this method, the meme isn’t perfect, but it’s pretty close.

Australia’s minimum wage was recently raised to 16.87 per hour in Australian dollars. At current exchange rates, that’s $14.81 in U.S. dollars -- a little lower than the $15.81 cited in the meme, but still well above the United States’ rate of $7.25 an hour.

Germany recently established a national minimum wage for the first time, at 8.5 Euros per hour. (Previously, Germany had a patchwork of different rates.) That works out to $10.79 in U.S. dollars, not far from the $11 cited in the meme, and still quite a bit higher than the minimum wage in the United States.

In France, the minimum wage is currently 9.53 Euros, which works out to $12.10. That’s pretty close to the $12.35 in the meme, and it’s well above the U.S. minimum wage.

Of the four countries cited in the meme, the description of Denmark is the least accurate. There is actually no minimum wage in Denmark, according to a summary published by the U.S. State Department. According to that summary, "unions and employer associations negotiate minimum wages. The average minimum wage for all private and public sector collective bargaining agreements was approximately DKK 110 ($20) per hour, exclusive of pension benefits."

In other words, the Danish "minimum wage" of $20 or $21 is actually an average of all minimum wages across a variety of sectors. That means many Danish workers will be working in companies or industries that have a "minimum wage" lower than $20 or $21. And that undercuts the notion of a "minimum wage," which is supposed to be a floor for wages.

FEATURED FACT-CHECK

Jordan Rachel
stated on January 16, 2021 in a tweet
A $15-per-hour minimum wage would raise the price of a Taco Bell burrito to $38.
truefalse
By Bill McCarthy • January 20, 2021
So, using foreign-exchange rates, the meme is pretty close for Australia, France and Germany, and somewhat misleading on Denmark.

But that’s not the only method you can use.

Using purchasing power parity

Taking exchange rates into account takes care of one problem related to comparing one country’s minimum wage to another. Untouched, though, is the difference in the cost of living between one country and the other.

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