Hacker News Reader

Comment by dtquad | Hacker News Reader

>I recently talked to Callum Williams, senior economics editor at The Economist, about why Americans are so much richer than Europeans. Two of the answers are the productivity of big tech and flexible labor markets

https://x.com/RichardHanania/status/1850564972046172229

As a Danish person I don't agree with the "flexible labor market" thing. However the thing about big (tech) companies being economic powerhouses and a force of good seems increasingly true. A lot of people really need to rethink "big companies bad" and what we consider a monopoly in 2024.

That is also why the next US government, led by JD "breakup big tech" Vance can be an once in a generation opportunity for Europe to build giant economic tech powerhouses.

View on HN

Economic powerhouses? Sure. But forces for good? I don't think necessarily so.

Regarding the wealth thing, I'd really like to see some analysis that quantifies the risks of not having guaranteed health insurance. It is basically a gamble in the US. And even when tech companies pay for your insurance, it doesn't cover everything and can disappear at any moment if you are fired.

I'd also like to see some analysis of the impact of all the European companies that US companies acquire and integrated when they show promise. Not to mention that all the big tech companies have big offices with thousands of employees in Europe too. How much is this a wealth transfer either way?

I think our Scandinavian-style labor market and healthcare is superior to what they have in the US. Americans also have a lower median wealth than us but that is because Americans, especially their minorities, have lower rate of home ownership. I only said big companies can be a force of good. I didn't praise the way Americans have decided to do healthcare (or housing).

Income redistribution that funds health and human dignity can be a good thing.

My point being you can support welfare and entitlements funded by income/wealth distribution without going full anti-big-business.

Interestingly one thing that increased home ownership in Denmark by making smaller Danish towns and cities more liveable were the shops and chains build by a retail group owned by Mærsk - the biggest shipping company in the world and what was for many years the only "megacorp" in Denmark.

>I'd also like to see some analysis of the impact of all the European companies that US companies acquire and integrated when they show promise. Not to mention that all the big tech companies have big offices with thousands of employees in Europe too. How much is this a wealth transfer either way?

Yes, it would be better for Europe if we had our own big tech companies. That is my point.

> I'd really like to see some analysis that quantifies the risks of not having guaranteed health insurance

Boost access to healthcare and entrepreneurship goes up [1].

[1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20952079/

Reply on news.ycombinator.com