top4718 Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 I know the comparisons cannot be direct because of different traditions/customs/history etc etc but I would love to see a non biased table of average wages, pensions, heating fuel bills, motoring fuel bills, weekly shopping, house prices, car prices etc of European countries compared with us, possibly throw the USA into the mix as well. My unresearched view of other countries (based on travels there) is that the people seem to have more pride in their work, possibly due to better pay and conditions (not backed up by facts), people who work seem to have a decent standard of living and pensioners seem to be better looked after/better off. Is it true that in Germany in particular the pension is very high compared to our pittance. I have long held a view that in the UK too much money is creamed off into the pockets of the fat cats (massive sums which get bigger year on year) and very little is re-invested to make businesses better and more efficient. Trains are a good example of this, I have travelled in Holland on quite a few occasions, the trains are clean, ultra reliable and cheap, while our trains are prohibitively expensive, understaffed, dirty and have very poor buffet cars etc. I once caught one to London from Retford on business (£75 one way, standard class), a guy in front of me bought a extortionatly priced sandwich at the buffet counter and paid with a ten pound note, the guy behind the counter reached behind him for a pint pot containing loads of "coppers" poured them out on the counter top and gave the poor bloke his change out of this.....pathetic service at premium prices. Sorry this thread has rambled a bit but I have had a drink. Does anybody agree??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lobster Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 most european pensions are higher than ours ,but fortunately most of europe has now wised up and realised that they are unsustainable and they will have to do something about . ITALY has an absolute disaster waiting to happen on pensions in the next 15/20 years mainly because italian social security was geared to older population and like the rest of europe and america the baby boomers are now retiring and they all want their pension at the same time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
top4718 Posted June 23, 2011 Author Share Posted June 23, 2011 most european pensions are higher than ours ,but fortunately most of europe has now wised up and realised that they are unsustainable and they will have to do something about . ITALY has an absolute disaster waiting to happen on pensions in the next 15/20 years mainly because italian social security was geared to older population and like the rest of europe and america the baby boomers are now retiring and they all want their pension at the same time Is this the case though, these pensions will have been available for many years and it only seems to be in the last 5yrs or so that it has become a problem (why wasnt it before). Another oversimplified view of mine is that the Euro was the biggest con ever foisted on us/them. The reason being that costs in this country were always much higher than in Europe (shopping, cars etc). I thought the introduction of the Euro and our opt out would show our inflated prices up and get things sold cheaper. What actually has happened is that the countries in the Eurozone have increased prices to match ours rather that the reverse hapening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Vader Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Yes, the greedy dirty rich have ruined this country. And no, I'm not anti-wealth or anti-business, I know businesses and the rich don't all behave in this disgusting manner - just the ones that value money higher than their dignity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mecky Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 The other man's grass is always greener. It would never happen because it would cause all kinds of trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Womerry2 Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Warnings about the "pensions timebomb ticking" have been making the headlines in Germany at regular intervals since the 1980s. On Dutch trains, I have experienced delays of up to three hours because of engine failure on four separate occasions. Services to the provinces seem to have been cut quite radically in recent years. And there has never been a buffet car and onyl very rarely a trolley service on a train that used to run pretty much the whole length of the county. Just saying ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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