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Comment by smnrchrds | Hacker News Reader

> Young professionals see 10x-20x salaries in the US or 5x salaries in Germany, Switzerland, Norway. And they make one obvious choice.

If you talk about tech, maybe. But I don't think the salary situation in Italy is that bleak if we look at the whole economy and account for purchasing power parity. Using OECD's number for 2019, household disposable income incl. social transfers in kind, in US dollars/capita at current prices and PPPs for the countries you mentioned are:

Italy: 31.7k

Norway: 40.1k

Germany: 41.0k

Switzerland: 41.1k

United States: 54.9k

https://data.oecd.org/hha/household-disposable-income.htm?co...

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Ah, PPP, so these are adjusted numbers, not actual.

I am talking about young professionals, they make a lot more money than that in Norway, Switzerland, USA. We know a Yoga teacher in Switzerland who makes 150 eur/hr, for example.

That's why PPP is so great.

When using it, it doesn't matter if the person makes 150 euros an hour if it costs them that much for a meal but the person in Italy only has to work half as long for a meal.

That's great when talking about people who spend the vast majority of their wealth on "cost of living" type stuff. But does it work in this case?

If a person in Italy makes just enough to live comfortably, you can compare that to a person in Norway who makes just enough to live comfortably. But if a person wants a new iPhone on top of that, they're gonna be paying around $1250 whether they're in Norway or in Italy ($1295 in Norway, $1253 in Italy).

So it seems to me that the calculation is a bit more complex than just some purchasing power parity factor. Even if $1 in Italy was $2 in Norway adjusted for PPP, I would much rather be making $8000/month in Norway than $4000/month in Italy because the price of luxury goods don't vary as wildly as the price of cost-of-living stuff.

Or is my understanding wrong?

PPP matters though. There probably aren't many yoga teachers in Italy spending €3000 per month on rent.

Switzerland can be a nice place for people to work hard when they are young and then move back home to start a family (or business.)

Well, 30% more is exactly what you can save month by month and get to retirement with some tranquility.

Absolutely. 30% is not small at all. It's just small when compared with the 500% to 2000% claimed in the parent comment.

Also note that the difference between the US and Germany is also about 30%. Again, nothing to scoff at, but at the same time not remotely high enough to depopulate Germany.

Ah right. I probably misread the parent, sorry.

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