Last week Backroads (the California company) took Michael and me on a one week bicycle trip — from Stockholm to Copenhagen. The trip involved biking (I did 295 kilometers), and shuttles by bus, boat and train. A friend asked my three strongest memories:
+ Dark forests and glowing wheat and barley fields in Sweden and Denmark.
+ The Baltic and the zillions of islands between Denmark and Sweden — as many as 80,000. The island scenery is stunning. It’s like Maine on steroids.
+ Stockholm and Copenhagen. Great cities oozing with talent, history, culture, design and booming with new construction — more so in Stockholm. Big cranes everywhere. Copenhagen is the big dig. They’re putting in a huge subway system– though why I’m not sure. Around 65% of the people in town bike to their work.
We were meant to be there on vacation. But I kept playing economist, mulling. These people pay among the highest income taxes in the world. Yet nobody is complaining. Everybody has a country house (on all those islands), a nice car and oodles of fun stuff — like boats and bicycles. That’s not the way it’s supposed to be under socialism, according to what we’re hearing in American politics. High taxes are a bar to progress we hear from our politicians. Why are these two countries different? I asked many — from our waitress (studying to be a forensic policeman) to the owner of a million dollar boat parked at a local dock.
And the universal answer? Everyone seems to trust how their government spends their taxes. For starters (which everyone mentions first) free health care, then free education — with most university students actually receiving around 800 euros a month in allowance. Then there’s free childcare, free buses for the elderly, and — wait for this — free ferries between the islands.
You can’t call it “socialism,” because everyone talks about the “rich” people and points out their multi-million dollar homes and apartments. I learned that Sweden’s richest man is the fellow who owns Ikea and everyone seems proud of his accomplishments. I’m mulling what lessons there are for us in the good old U.S.A. Maybe this stuff only works for small countries?
What’s impressive is that the free and universal education seems to work. I’m told there are more people who speak English in Sweden than who speak English now in England.
Here’s Michael and Harry having biked for lunch to Frederiksborg Castle, which houses Denmark’s ultra-impressive Museum of National History — founded and financed (like most museumy things in Denmark) by a local philanthropic brewer. You will not believe the quality of the food in Denmark and Sweden until you’ve visited and tasted it. Salmon. Herring. Cream cheese. Cinanom buns. etc.
Travel Tips I just learned from my trip to Sweden and Denmark:
+ In past trips, I’ve rented a personal hotspot gadget from XCom Global. They give you Wi-Fi access to the Internet, this is the gadget:
I rented the gadget for this trip, but never used it. Every hotel has Wi-Fi.
Michael has a unlimited international data roaming package on his AT&T iPhone. He used it with Google Maps and that got us around faster than, God forbid, having to use paper maps. So if you want to use Google Maps on your next overseas trip, then rent one of the Xcom Global gadgets.
+ You need a big, clunky converter plug like this. The little ones don’t always work.
To buy, click here.
+ This is Bose’s latest and greatest. It’s called the Bose Quiet Comfort 35.
This is noise cancelling at its best. It’s Bluetooth. Hence no wires. It has a microphone, so you can answer incoming calls and speak on them. You’ll be blow away with the comfort of the thing. I was.
$349 from Amazon. Click here.
+ Take bars of soap. I can’t stand liquid body wash. I like soap so I always take some. I also take my Duxiana travel pillow.
+ If you’re taking Apple stuff, carry genuine Apple cords and chargers. The stuff from China usually stops working at the worst time.
+ Make sure you drop several business cards into all your luggage. This way you’ll have a better chance of getting it back.
+ TSA Precheck works and saves huge time. Please enroll. Many credit card companies will pay the cost. I believe some airlines will also.
Walmart is buying Jet.com (for $3 billion) to compete against Amazon.
I’ve never used Jet. I wondered what could Walmart could see in Jet? I went shopping on Jet.com for my favorite travel camera, the Canon G5X:
Here’s how Jet sells it. Top black price is Canon’s list. $749 is the price Amazon sells it at. But Jet offers interesting options which Amazon doesn’t offer — yet.
Favorite Olympic Games cartoon
No jokes from Sweden or Denmark. They’re too busy making money. I suspect their ownership and understanding of stocks is far broader than ours.
Harry Newton who’s happy to be home and no longer answering questions about what IS going on in American presidential politics. There’s talk over there that if Trump is elected, many countries in Europe will start spending hugely on their military. I wonder which of our defense stocks could boom? LMT?
Look at the way Socialism has moved into the USA and then look at the the value of the $$ to the average American family. It is still declining.
There are real reasons why “socialism” as practiced in those countries worked in the recent past and perhaps today. Look it up. One very important reason until very recently is a monolithic culture. Also, what percentage lives off the gov’t compared to the US’s 48%? Then there is the off-shore oil they have lots of. Now with their recent large Islamic immigration, all of a shocked sudden, the people are seeing a very different ugly culture and world, and extremely worried, with crime particularly against women and such, now part of their idyllic life.
Definitely you should move back to Australia if you think socialism works. Sooner rather than later.
Do those BOSE you mention still comfortable if you wear glasses?
Yes. Yes. Yes.
I’m not a shill for this company – but someone has finally put together a coherent video explaining how you are getting ripped off with fees.
http://creativeplanning.net/
Peter Mallouk distills the 4 deadly horseman of investments.
1. Suitability standard
2. Fiduciary standard
3. Dual Registration
4. Proprietary funds
And hits on consulting fees near the end – think Bernie Madoff.
“…if Trump is elected, many countries in Europe will start spending hugely on their military.”
Ding! Ding! Ding!
In 2010 Denmark spent 1.41% of its GDP on defense; Sweden 1.18% (last year Denmark was down to 1.18% according to NATO report). By contrast USA spent 4.35%. The NATO countries are required to contribute minimum of 2% GDP (Sweden is not part of NATO). I wonder what effect there would be on their utopian democratic socialist societies if they had to double spending on military (or worse nearly quadruple to match USA)? Did anyone talk about that Harry?
IMHO that really is the difference between affording “free” stuff like health care and college and not. If not for the endless wars we’d have that as well as colonies on the moon for sure and probably Mars too.
welcome back harry, sounds like a fabulous trip. was in portland over the weekend, escaping horrible heat in the south, and can see why michael lives there. what a beautiful city, particularly this time of year. have you visited the nike employee store? i spoke to a few locals who said scoring a “friends and family” pass is like hitting the lottery these days.
It doesn’t matter to me what other countries do. All I know is socialism would never work here in America. I have a novel idea. Why doesn’t the United States try economic freedom and government by the Constitution like our founding fathers wanted. I guarantee that would be a better system for the citizens of this country than socialism or the quasi-socialist system we’re living under now.
I would not call it quasi-socialist. I would call it pathetic quasi-socialist, just enough to keep us from going down the tubes.
How about we get rid of the word socialist for starters?
And then get down to the business of a shared economy where education and healthcare and caring for the elderly are not tied to the brain dead idea that profit motive is a magic pill that makes everything better, when the truth is that it only makes it better for a tiny group at the top of the pyramid.
A shared economy would work here. What’s missing is the awareness and the will to make it happen.
Why get rid of the word socialist? It’s not a dirty word. It’s just a failed political and economic theory. Except apparently in the 2 tiny countries where Harry says it’s working.
Welcome home Harry…sounds like a fantastic experience. Always wanted to visit those countries plus Norway. Out of the 56 countries we have visited we missed those three.