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Young Danes Leave Denmark for Lower Taxes
Cato Daily Dispatch ^ | 12/26/07 | Laura Osio, editor

Posted on 12/26/2007 2:43:09 PM PST by bruinbirdman

"As a self-employed software engineer, Thomas Sorensen broadcasts his qualifications to potential employers across Europe and the Middle East," reports The New York Times. "But to employers in his native Denmark, he is simply unavailable. Settled in Frankfurt, where he handles computer security for a large Swiss corporation, Mr. Sorensen, 34, has no plans to return to the days of paying sky-high Danish taxes. Still, an unknowing recruiter does occasionally pass his name to Danish companies. 'When I get an e-mail from them, I either respond negatively but politely,' Mr. Sorensen said, 'or I don't respond at all.'

Born and trained at Denmark's expense, but working -- and paying lower taxes -- elsewhere in Europe, Mr. Sorensen is the stuff of nightmares for Danish companies and politicians searching for solutions to an increasingly desperate labor shortage."

In "What Can the United States Learn from the Nordic Model?" Cato senior fellow Daniel J. Mitchell writes:

"Some policymakers in the United States and Europe argue that it is possible to enjoy economic growth and also have a large welfare state. These advocates for bigger government claim that the so called Nordic Model offers the best of both worlds. This claim does not withstand scrutiny. Economic performance in Nordic nations is lagging, and excessive government is the most likely explanation. The public sector in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Iceland consumes, on average, more than 48 percent of economic output. ... This bigger burden of government hurts Nordic competitiveness, both because government spending consumes resources that could be more efficiently allocated by market forces and because the accompanying high tax rates discourage productive behavior."


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: denmark; europe; socialism
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1 posted on 12/26/2007 2:43:10 PM PST by bruinbirdman
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To: bruinbirdman

Well we know they’re not leaving for Maryland.


2 posted on 12/26/2007 2:45:11 PM PST by xkaydet65
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To: bruinbirdman

Well, I guess this guy moved to Germany so he would ONLY have to pay 50% taxes. One of my old German landlords years and years ago, told me he would be a very rich man if he did not have to help upkeep most of his neighborhood by paying 50% in taxes. He told me that was the amount he had to pay every year.


3 posted on 12/26/2007 2:47:17 PM PST by RetiredArmy (Better prepare, come Nov 08, we have a Marxist Commissar President and Marxist Congress.)
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To: bruinbirdman

If Hitlery and you want to leave the U.S. ...to where??? Think about it!


4 posted on 12/26/2007 2:49:42 PM PST by Don Corleone (Leave the gun..take the cannoli)
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To: bruinbirdman

So what’s the tax rate there?


5 posted on 12/26/2007 2:53:03 PM PST by scottdeus12 (Jesus is real, whether you believe in Him or not.)
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To: bruinbirdman
Economic performance in Nordic nations is lagging, and excessive government is the most likely explanation. The public sector in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Iceland consumes, on average, more than 48 percent of economic output. ...

We're not far behind at 40%.

6 posted on 12/26/2007 2:53:28 PM PST by Moonman62 (The issue of whether cheap labor makes America great should have been settled by the Civil War.)
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To: Moonman62

... not including hidden taxes.


7 posted on 12/26/2007 2:56:48 PM PST by coloradan (Failing to protect the liberties of your enemies establishes precedents that will reach to yourself.)
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To: bruinbirdman

What the heck is in Lower Texas that they want to move there.


8 posted on 12/26/2007 2:58:36 PM PST by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: scottdeus12
"So what’s the tax rate there? "

http://www.skm.dk/foreign/facts_and_figures/1602.html

yitbos

9 posted on 12/26/2007 2:59:24 PM PST by bruinbirdman ("Those who control language control minds. - Ayn Rand")
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To: Don Corleone; expat_panama
Turks & Caicos Islands. Panama (ask our FReeper colleague 'expat_panama'!). Ireland, if you're an author or software creator and can stand the climate. Netherlands Antilles if you're in finance. Singapore, if you can stand the crowding. Iceland, under certain circumstances. New Zealand, if they kick Clark and her Commie Mommies out.

Lots of places, depending on your circumstances and personal emotional makeup. Of course, one would rather not leave the US, but, as ol' Mick Jagger used to sing: ''You can't always get what you want'', which certainly applies in the case of the sheeple electing Hitlery.

10 posted on 12/26/2007 3:02:37 PM PST by SAJ
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To: tet68
Bad enough that we have an invasion from south of the Rio Grande. Now they are going to invade from across the oceans? Oh, yeah. They are vikings, so the ocean makes sense. But they also come from a welfare state, so that is what they will expect here.

But no. Never! Billions for defense, but not one penny for Danegeld!

11 posted on 12/26/2007 3:04:12 PM PST by 17th Miss Regt
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To: bruinbirdman
"economic growth and also have a large welfare state"

Apparently, the policymakers who advocate for a welfare state have learned * nothing * from other examples of a welfare state = failure. That is, there is NO incentive for a person to better themselves in a country where more than half of their wages are taken away from him/her to support lay-about people who will not work.

The elderly, disabled, and children w/o parents (orphans) are the ONLY people who should be eligible for federal and state assistance.

Children who have been taken away from their parents for abuse or neglect should be supported by their parents financially with payments direct deposited to the agency which is taking care of said children.

12 posted on 12/26/2007 3:05:53 PM PST by xtinct (I was the next door neighbor kid's imaginary friend.)
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To: bruinbirdman

The depressing thing about this story is that none of the conclusions matter to the political Left. They want higher taxes and an expanded welfare state and none of the arguments against these policies will persuade them to change their minds.


13 posted on 12/26/2007 3:09:39 PM PST by quadrant
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To: xkaydet65

They don’t mention the US as a destination at all.

This is the reason the libs want globalization. They want a world government that will impose high taxes on everyone.


14 posted on 12/26/2007 3:22:17 PM PST by Brilliant
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To: quadrant
"They want higher taxes and an expanded welfare state and none of the arguments against these policies will persuade them to change their minds."

A lot of people make their living advocating and actually redistributing wealth. Some do it with ballots, some with organizations, some with guns. It is a growth industry.

yitbos

15 posted on 12/26/2007 3:24:38 PM PST by bruinbirdman ("Those who control language control minds. - Ayn Rand")
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To: Moonman62
We're not far behind at 40%.

Where do you get that number? The US tax burden (expressed as a % of GDP - the only real measure) is <20%. You can argue between 19.1 & 20.3%, but 40% is very wrong.

16 posted on 12/26/2007 3:28:37 PM PST by speekinout
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To: Don Corleone

Maybe we can go with the Lakota Indians. I hear they are seceding.


17 posted on 12/26/2007 3:30:39 PM PST by SnarlinCubBear ("Tolerance becomes a crime when applied to evil." -- Thomas Mann)
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To: speekinout

Add in state and local income taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, vehicle registration taxes, etc.


18 posted on 12/26/2007 3:36:21 PM PST by rightwingcrazy
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To: bruinbirdman

Are they Blonde and Blue eyed?


19 posted on 12/26/2007 3:39:39 PM PST by Red_Devil 232 (VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!)
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To: RetiredArmy

From the original NYTime article:

“Now he is ensconced in Frankfurt, setting up a new business on the side and planning to pay no more than 25 percent of his income to the German state.

I think that is an average income tax rate, not a marginal, and does not include sales taxes.


20 posted on 12/26/2007 3:41:25 PM PST by proxy_user
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