tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2048715035467766557.post6420838662027349033..comments2024-03-03T04:40:39.492-05:00Comments on Fire Megan McArdle: Shorter Douthatbradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2048715035467766557.post-19677736478513980672009-04-10T14:04:00.000-04:002009-04-10T14:04:00.000-04:00Actually, there is no "main point" of this post, j...Actually, there is no "main point" of this post, just a bunch of quotations accompanied by a bunch of weasel words - "well maybe", "one could argue" and so forth. All of that from a person who gets PAID to write THIS. You get it now?<BR/><BR/>But in the interest of the argument, you are probably referring to this:<BR/><I>In short, as Gilbert points out, because of the 40 percent tax rate on her husband's job, a new mother may be forced to take that second, highly taxed job to supplement the family's finances</I><BR/>This makes several assumptions, the least of which is the implication that due to the high taxes, the husband's paycheck can't cover the entire family's expenses. No evidence whatsoever is provided, not even the basic figures like the average wage (around 19000 kronor monthly, btw), average living expenses, average state contribution and so on and so forth. And again with the weasel words - "a new mother may be forced" and that meaningless BS about "rigid" labor market. Guess what, you can work part-time in Sweden, too, there is no minimum wage and the minimum notice period is one month. Yeah, that's really rigid.bulbulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14505565281151328789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2048715035467766557.post-73585986130832348952009-04-09T16:12:00.000-04:002009-04-09T16:12:00.000-04:00the welfare state turns out to be a good economic ...<I>the welfare state turns out to be a good economic engine for job creation, and the women there find it possible to have both a career and a family</I><BR/><BR/>One of the main points of this post is that Sweden's inflexible labor market and high taxes push women toward a certain balance of work and family, not necessarily the one that they would prefer, just like America's system does. <BR/><BR/>You think you're so much smarter than these people but you're not that interested in the arguments they're actually making.phnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06602883617332633120noreply@blogger.com