There's a general obsession on GDP and salary numbers that is a bit myopic. Let's say in country A people drop their kids by car at school, while country B the kids go by themselves at school by foot. All other things being equal, the higher expenses on gas and cars will show up as higher GDP for country A, which will in turn be considered 'wealthier'. But is it really ? Likewise for salaries, the higher number hides what it is expended for, maybe you'll need to expend a lot more to be able to live in a high quality of life neighbourhood.
Oh totally. Coming from the States, where our costs included two cars, healthcare out of pocket expenses, daycare, etc and coming to DK where, yes, taxes are high, but we have zero cars, zero healthcare costs, etc.
One of the owners of my company moved to France for a few years. Which was important because if he stayed in the US he would have had to get an outside job instead of working for the company. That would have been bad.
My effective rate of taxation is close to 40-50% here in India. I doubt I get one tenth the benefit. Rampant corruption, abysmal infrastructure, no rule of law...I could go on.
