It has nothing to do with "champagne socialism". The high wages were accomplished by cooperation between working people who had organised themselves into trade unions.
The author, who does not seem to have come within a thousand miles of any other work than armchair pontification, is one for thinking it'd be great to have such labor unions everywhere.
A gallon of gasoline in Denmark $7.60. Sales tax in Denmark 25%.
I love Denmark but I am also familiar with what small business in Denmark have to put up with to survive.
In reality, gas prices are up all over the world because of pent up demand as things open up as we slowly come out of the pandemic.
- gas-loving American living in Norway
It's about 10¢/L cheaper in Germany or Belgium.
https://www.drive-alive.co.uk/fuel_prices_europe.html#Petrol...
the true cost, plus whatever taxes the local government have decided to levy
From my understanding, gas in the USA is not heavily subsidized. If it is, then everything is. It does not receive any special treatment.
https://www.brookings.edu/research/reforming-global-fossil-f...
"The Environmental and Energy Study Institute reported that direct subsidies to the fossil fuel industry totaled $20 billion per year, with 80% going toward oil and gas. In addition, from 2019 to 2023, tax subsidies are expected to reduce federal revenue by around $11.5 billion. Considering that production subsidies grew 28% between 2017 and 2019, the United States will be under a lot of scrutiny from other countries wanting to see evidence of reform before making their own commitments."
We are subsidizing the use of non-renewables in general by not taxing them enough (or even subsidizing them).
You get paid $22. That gets you about 2.9 gallons of gasoline in Denmark which converts to about $10 in the United States.
So, talking about how much the gross pay of Danish workers is without thinking at all about what they can afford to buy with that money is a true mark of economic ignorance.
The original point was that Matt Bruenig is a champagne socialist. "Denmark is great" is not a counter-argument to that.
I guess the next major costs to compare are rent and health insurance?
How so?
https://www.brookings.edu/research/reforming-global-fossil-f....
[0]: https://terrapass.com/product/personal-carbon-offset-grouped
[1]: https://www.bidnet.com/resources/business-insights/us-govern....
[2]: https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=23&t=10#:~:text=In...).
[3]: https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/diesel-fuel/use-of-diese....
> At 123 billion gallons of gas [0] and 44 billion gallons of diesel [3],
As a note, my personal tax rate in the US is not that much lower than my Danish tax, and in Denmark I get free health care, free education, free support if I'm struggling, and a unified, digital service for registering and running my company.
Thinking it's a good idea to have strong trades unions, if you don't happen to be in a union, does not mean you are a "champagne socialist".
Trade unionism and state socialism are not the same.