| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 107.1 | Denmark | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Thu Jul 24 1986 09:56 | 4 |
| Eurostat reported the following annual inflation rates for Denmark,
according to the AP Wire:
April - 4.0 May - 3.8 June - 3.8
|
| 107.2 | Norway | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Fri Oct 10 1986 16:27 | 17 |
| Associated Press Fri 10-OCT-1986 13:02 Norway-Inflation
Norway's Consumer Price Index Up 1.4 Pc In September
OSLO, Norway (AP) - Norway's consumer price index rose 1.4 percent in
mid-September from the same period in the previous month, the Central
Bureau of Statistics announced Friday. A sharp rise in the price of
clothing largely was largely responsible for the index increase,
according to the bureau.
The bureau said the index figure was up to 187.8 from 185.1. From Sept.
15 last year to Sept. 15 this year the index was up 8.6 percent. For
the first nine months of 1986, the index was up about 6.6 percent
compared with the same period in 1985.
For the full year the government has predicted an inflation rate of
about 7.0 percent.
|
| 107.3 | Sweden: food and fuel prices | MLTVAX::SAVAGE | Neil @ Spit Brook | Mon Oct 16 1989 14:39 | 19 |
| Prices quoted in Sw kronor are courtesy of the fall 1989 edition of
'Gult och Bl�tt i Boston' and are for purchases made in Stockholm.
September 1989 April 1988
1 liter milk 5.50 4.90
1 kg (herrg�rd) cheese 59.50 54.60
1 kg butter 38.60 37.50
1 kg margerine 27.90 24.95
1 kg coffee 57.80 52.00
1 kg potatoes 4.50 3.65
1 kg eggs 23.50 21.80
1 kg flour 8.05 7.35
2 kg powered sugar 15.40 14.20
1 kg apples 16.90 15.50
1 kg pork chops 76.00 56.80
1 kg fillet of beef 203.00 195.00
1 liter petrol (95 octane) 4.54 4.25
|
| 107.4 | Denmark low in 1990 | NEILS::SAVAGE | | Tue May 01 1990 15:02 | 30 |
| From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: clari.biz.economy.world,clari.news.europe,clari.biz.economy,
clari.biz.finance
Subject: Inflation remains high in European Community
Keywords: non-usa economy, economy, prices, consumer credit, money
Date: 27 Apr 90 15:59:45 GMT
BRUSSELS, Belgium (UPI) -- Substantial inflation was registered in
the European Community for the third month in a row in March with an
average rise in the consumer price index of 0.5 percent, the
statistical office Eurostat said Friday.
The March figures followed a 0.6 percent rise in January and
another incxrease of 0.5 percent in February. The largest increases
were registered in Portugal, up 0.6 percent, Britain up 1.0 percent,
and Greece, up 3.8 percent.
For the Community as a whole, the inflation rate over 12 months
reached 5.3 percent in March, the same it had been in January, and up
from 5.2 percent in February, Eurostat said. Above the Community
average on an annual basis were Greece with 17.8 percent, Portugal with
12.8, Britain with 8.1, Spain with 7.0 and Italy with 6.2 percent.
Below the average were the Netherlands with 2.1 percent, West
Germany with 2.7, DENMARK with 3.0, Belgium and France with 3.4,
Luxembourg with 3.5 and Ireland with 4.2.
The 5.3 percent EC average compared with 5.2 percent in the United
States and 3.4 percent in Japan, Eurostat said.
|
| 107.5 | Purchasing power | NEILS::SAVAGE | | Tue May 08 1990 10:00 | 29 |
| From: [email protected] (Magnus Rimvall)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: Norwegian Standard of living
Date: 7 May 90 03:42:15 GMT
Schweizerische Bankgesellschaft issues a "Preise und Loehne rund um die
Weld" every two years. This politically neutral and IMHU quite reliable
source relates the Purchasing Power to that of Zurich (based on data
from 1988). Some data:
Gross Net
Los Angeles 120.8 117.6
Zurich 100.0 100.0
Frankfurt 95.5 77.3
Montreal 95.3 85.6
New York 85.0 74.1
Kopenhagen 82.7 60.3
London 72.2 65.4
Mailand 69.5 63.9 (Milano)
Oslo 64.7 38.8
Stockholm 62.0 51.3
Tokio 42.4 44.2
Madrid 37.2 39.4
Lissabon 24.0 24.8
Magnus Rimvall
Standard Disclaimer
|
| 107.6 | It don't make sense... | COPCLU::GEOFFREY | RUMMEL - The Forgotten American | Tue May 08 1990 11:06 | 12 |
|
Could you elaborate as to what exactly is being shown in note
107.5? It doesn't make sense to me. Does this imply that Los
Angeles is the best place to live financially? Can we get some
background on the data?
Rgds.
Geoff
|
| 107.7 | About the Swiss purchase power data | WHYVAX::SAVAGE | Neil @ Spit Brook | Tue May 08 1990 14:12 | 4 |
| My reading of it is that a given unit of money that you use to get
goods and services would go about 20% further in Los Angeles than in
Zurich. I know nothing about how the data is gathered and have only
the sayso of the author that is is objective.
|
| 107.8 | my guess | NORGE::CHAD | Ich glaube Ich t�te Ich h�tte | Tue May 08 1990 16:11 | 26 |
| This is my understanding.
Well, the title of the report is
Preise und L�hne rund um die Welt == Prices and Incomes/Salaries around the
World
This tells me that the average gross salary compared to Zurich for LA
is higher and that net salary is higher but not as high percentage wise. I
think that "net" might refer to how much it buys you. Meaning that LA
has 20% higher average income that buys 17% more than in Zurich. That would
mean that Zurich is comparatively a better place but LA absolutely a better
place (absolutely above refers to it being an absolute comparison as
opposed to a comparative comparison, not that LA is "absolutely the place to be"
:-). Basically it is a somparison of incomes to relative worth of that
income.
That is how I read it anyway. I have no knowledge that that is really what it
means above and beyond knowing what the title translates to, what the USENET
author said and my own puzzle putting-together.
Chad
PS: In Spring 88 I saw a similar table that made the US national average
one and mentioned some places in the US as related to that national average.
Boston was 1.49 and Provo Utah (where I was at the time) was .79.
|
| 107.9 | Tokyo Lisbon and Madrid ! | NORGE::CHAD | Ich glaube Ich t�te Ich h�tte | Tue May 08 1990 16:14 | 6 |
| According to my synopsis of the whole thing, that would mean that comparatively
the best places are Tokyo, Madrid, and Lisbon, where your money goes further
than in Zurich (net > gross). Of course, if you don't start with as much
then on an absolute scale you lose in such comparisons.
Chad
|
| 107.10 | And Oslo not so hot | NORGE::CHAD | Ich glaube Ich t�te Ich h�tte | Tue May 08 1990 16:17 | 7 |
| Looking at the chart shows that
Oslo is one of the worst. That corresponds with my experience on the
MacDonalds scale. McDonalds in Oslo was much more expensive than either
Copenhagen or Stockholm when I was there in January (not that I ate every day
at MCDonalds, I just saw a lot of ads on the streets).
Chad
|
| 107.11 | From the author of .5: Apartment rents compared | NEILS::SAVAGE | | Tue May 08 1990 17:43 | 27 |
| From: [email protected] (Magnus Rimvall)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Date: 8 May 90 03:04:49 GMT
Organization: Schenectady, NY
SBG lists the following "typical monthly rents":
Los Angeles $1250
Oslo $1050
Stockholm $ 470
LA/Oslo: If you have three times the purchasing power, you can probably
afford the $200.
Stockholm: The table explicitly states that this monthly rent is for an
appartment of typical standard ("ortsuebliche Komfort") WHICH YOU
ALREADY POSSESS. With rent and distribution control you would wait
years for such an appartment (MR, not SBG). Rent of a furnished
three-bedroom appartment on the free market is $1520 in Stockholm,
$1650 in Oslo and $1490 in LA.
Take your pick. I prefer semi-rural upstate NY to all of these choices.
Magnus Rimvall
Standard Disclaimer
|
| 107.12 | Visitor or resident? | OSL09::MAURITZ | DTN(at last!)872-0238; @NWO | Wed May 09 1990 04:46 | 38 |
| There are, of course, innumerable statistics published on the subject.
Most of those that appear in "business" type periodicals seem
superficial at first glance. This is because they generally have
the "business traveller" in mind, and the pricing/purchasing power
will often reflect typical expences that a visitor has (e.g., eating
at McDonalds or Tour d'Argent---depending on which company you work
for). In either case, the mix of products and services that have
been chosen constitute a selkection that can be fairly irrelevant
for the permanent resident (How much do hotel prices in Armonk (sp?)
affect living expenses for residents in up-state New York?).
Serious and complete cost-of-living, GDP, and similar kinds of
statistics are seldom published in popular (wherein I would include
most "business" mags) periodicals ("The Economist" being a possible
exception, when they do serious articles on such subjects). The
economic historian, Angus Maddigan has published some books (one
is "Stages of Capitalist Developement"(?) I think), where he has
tables showing GDP per person by country and by year. These have
then been adjusted to purchasing-power value (as opposed to exchange
rates) of the different countries, so what you come up with makes
sense; i.e., it reflects how much purchasing power is at the disposal
of each person in each country. You could then look at tables for
each country (not in Maddison's book, though, as I recall) to see
how much of this purchasing-power GDP is available in wages and
how much is part of public spending. Looking at the long term, citizens
in democratic countries "decide" how much of the total earnings
are to be spent "in common".
An example of comparison between the (long-term) costs of living
in a country with expensive private higher education versus one
where this is "free" (i.e., public paid tuition) is quite relevant
to the resident with a statistical 2.2 children; for the visiting
tourist/businessperson hotel prices and hamburgers obviously mean
more than whether the locals have to "save for their kids' college
education" (a phrase unknown in Scandinavia) or not.
Mauritz
|
| 107.13 | Comment on .11 | CHARLT::SAVAGE | | Wed May 09 1990 12:00 | 19 |
| From: [email protected] (Hans Henrik Eriksen)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Date: 8 May 90 16:46:52 GMT
Does SBG list what type of apartments you can get in Oslo
for $1050/month? It sounds awfully expensive to me (unless
the apartment is large [>1600sqft] or located in a particu-
larly expensive area.)
The Stockholm figures look more correct to me for a nice,
2 room rented apartment in Oslo's "better" (e.g. west end)
areas.
Some friends of mine rented a VILLA for $1050/month.
My cousin pays $480/month for a nice "typical" 2-3 room
apartment.
Hans Henrik Eriksen ([email protected])
University of Oslo
|
| 107.14 | Nordic cities more expensive than New York | CHARLT::SAVAGE | | Wed May 09 1990 12:09 | 68 |
| From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: clari.news.europe,clari.news.trends,clari.news.economy
Keywords: international, municipal goverment, government, urban trends,
trends, non-usa economies, economy
Date: 8 May 90 17:12:09 GMT
Location: switzerland
Slugword: cities
GENEVA (UPI) -- Tehran, Tokyo and Libreville are the world's most
expensive major cities with New York only in 32nd place, an
international cost-of-living study said Tuesday. The study to help
governments and companies determine allowances for executives was based
on prices for 151 products in March and compiled by the consulting firm
Corporate Resources Group.
New York was rated at 100 points on the index and 32nd among the 83
cities covered. Tehran, because of an overvalued currency, was by far
the most expensive at 192 points or 92 percent dearer than New York.
Tokyo placed second with 150 points, Libreville third with 143 points.
Of the world's 15 most expensive cities, seven were in Europe --
OSLO, HELSINKI, Zurich, Geneva, COPENHAGEN, STOCKHOLM and Paris.
Also more expensive than New York were Brussels, Tel Aviv, Madrid, Rome
and London.
Other cities above New York, in order, were:
Brazzaville 138, OSLO 135, Osaka 133, HELSINKI 130, Dakar 126, Abidjan
122, Geneva 121, COPENHAGEN 119, STOCKHOLM 117, Taipei 116, Paris 111,
Lyon 109, Brussels 109, Tel Aviv 107, Milan 107, Luxembourg 106, Dublin
106, Barcelona 104, Madrid 104, London 103, Munich 102, Lome 102,
Toronto 101.
Duesseldorf, Beijing and Lima were rated at 100 points but
fractionally above New York. Tokyo and Osaka last year were the
most expensive cities but Japan has become cheaper because of the fall
in value of the yen, the study said. West German cities are
among the lowest in Europe, it said, because the strong deutschmark
keeps down the price of imported goods. "Latin American cities,
which closely follow the U.S. currency, rank among the less expensive
because the continuous decline of many Latin American currencies
ensures that they do not become more expensive despite the high level
of inflation," the study said. Quito, the capital of Ecuador, was
ranked as the world's cheapest city with just 40 points -- putting it
60 percent below New York. Third and second from bottom were Asuncion
and Budapest with 52 points each.
With New York always rated at 100 points on the scale, eating at home
was found to be the most expensive in Tehran at 249 points with Tokyo
second at 165 and Libreville third at 160 points.
Alcoholic beverages and tobacco were costliest in OSLO (198), HELSINKI
(183), and Algiers (170), while automobiles cost the most in Lima
(249), Abidjan (184) and Tehran (173).
The cheapest food was in Quito (34), Asuncion (37) and Bombay (41),
alcohol and tobacco in Budapest (53), Harare (56) and Asuncion (57),
and automobiles cost the least in Cairo (55), Quito (57) and Budapest
(67). Major cities cheaper than New York included Frankfurt (98),
Sydney (97), Amsterdam (96), Chicago (96), Seoul (95), Washington (95),
Los Angeles (94), Hong Kong (93), San Francisco (93), Boston (93),
Houston (92), Miami (92), Montreal (91), Singapore (85), Athens (85),
Abu Dhabi (83), Lisbon (77), Sao Paulo (75), Rio de Janeiro (74),
Jakarta (73), Bangkok (72), Karachi (72), Lagos (70), Nairobi (70),
Mexico City (68), Istanbul (68), Johannesburg (66), Santiago (65),
Cairo (62), Bogota (58), Buenos Aires (56), Harare (56), and then
Asuncion, Budapest and Quito.
|
| 107.15 | Yet a third way of comparing | OSL09::MAURITZ | DTN(at last!)872-0238; @NWO | Thu May 10 1990 03:49 | 40 |
| re .14
To put this in perspective, I would again refer to my earlier note
.12, and point out that this is closer to "visitor" than "long-term
resident". On second thought, this kind of statistic is really a
third way of looking at comparitive expenses, to wit:
o Its purpose is to size "allowances"
o It is aimed at "executives"
o Accounting and salaries are done in US dollars (hence the
effects of exchange rates).
Digital also has guidelines on this kind of situation and make a
very real distinction in its international transfers between:
o Temporary (say 2-3 year) assignments
o Permanent moves
In the first case, all sorts of extra factors will get added into
the "necessary products and services" that the "executive" needs
in order to maintain a similar standard of living in a foreign country,
THOUGH without some of the advantages of being able to make long
term financial dispositions (e.g., renting vs buying a home in some
countries). Private schooling in special American/English schools
is another "necessity" that the permanent resident would not have.
Another item that COULD be included in the study refered to might
be a Tax-compensation adjustment. In countries with higher income
taxes than the US (most European countries), there would be an extra
adjustment upward in the allowance to compensate for a smaller
percentage in local take-home pay. I believe this is quite fair,
in one way, since the benefits that a permanent resident gets from
his higher taxes can be long-term, such as college education for
kids. Some benefits, however, are short term (less crime/safer streets,
better/usable public transportation, etc).
In summary, this kind of "comparison" is totally different from
that relationg to Earnings-expenses of a local long term resident,
paid in the currency of his own country.
Mauritz
|
| 107.16 | Originator's explanation of .5 similar to Mauritz's | NEILS::SAVAGE | | Thu May 10 1990 12:47 | 31 |
| From: [email protected] (Magnus Rimvall)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Date: 8 May 90 21:47:15 GMT
Organization: Schenectady, NY
[Extracts from a longer discussion.]
The SBG survey ... [is a] carefully selected set of goods and services
is compared in somw 50 different cities around the world. Granted, the
set is selected to correspond to the needs of an average Swiss citizen
(more milk than rice, cinema/theater but no visit to Disneyland, etc),
but I think that we can all agree that the mixture of that set is
virtually the same in the countries concerned (Switzerland, Norway,
Sweden USA).
. . .
...the net purchasing power of an Oslo resident (again according to
SBG) is about a third of that in LA. Using a mixed and weighed bag of
goods and services.
The given table is BTW in heavy use in Switzerland to figure out
reimbursements for Swiss working abroad (etc). SBG would have
absolutely no reason for slanting the figures one way or another
(except potentially for the Swiss figures against all the rest).
. . .
Magnus Rimvall
Standard Disclaimer
|
| 107.17 | Price of gasoline (petrol) in Sweden | CHARLT::SAVAGE | | Tue Sep 11 1990 11:44 | 12 |
| From: [email protected] (Christer Palm)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: Re: Price of gas
Date: 22 Aug 90 19:06:10 GMT
Organization: Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
Price in Sweden today 6.42 Skr/L or 24.30 Skr/US gallon
USD is 5.78 Skr so the price in Sweden for 1 US gallon is 4.20 USD
/Christer
|
| 107.18 | That was then | STKAI1::LANDH | | Tue Sep 11 1990 12:05 | 3 |
| Well, it is 7.36 SEK/L tody.
Peter
|
| 107.19 | Norwegian krone to be pegged to ECU | NEILS::SAVAGE | | Mon Oct 22 1990 13:33 | 31 |
| From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: clari.biz.finance,clari.biz.economy.world,clari.news.europe,
clari.news.gov.international
Subject: Norway pegs krone to EMS
Keywords: foreign exchange, money, non-usa economy, economy, international,
non-usa government, government
Date: 19 Oct 90 18:12:00 GMT
Location: norway, western europe
ACategory: financial
Slugword: norway-currency
OSLO, Norway (UPI) -- Norway has decided to peg its currency to the
European Currency Unit even though it is not a member of the European
Community, Norwegian radio said Friday. Norway has assigned its krone
a value of 7.9940 ECUs, the radio report said.
The Norwegian government decided to link the krone to the ECU, a
composite of 10 EC currencies dominated by the German mark, during a
special cabinet meeting Friday afternoon, the radio report said. The
report said the government decision did not imply Norway would be a
member or associate of the European Monetary System, but established a
purely technical relationship between the currencies.
It said the krone was to be pegged to the ECU at a standard rate,
or parity, of 7.9940 ECUs to one krone, with a margin of plus or minus
2.25 percent. The Danish krone is one of the ECU component currencies.
Norway's decision comes two weeks after Great Britain, a big
trading partner, decided to bring its pound sterling into the Exchange
Rate Mechanism of the European Monetary System at a parity of 2.95
German marks.
|
| 107.20 | Denmark: interest rates and consumer price increases | TLE::SAVAGE | | Tue May 21 1991 16:08 | 17 |
| From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: clari.biz.finance,clari.news.europe,clari.biz.economy.world,
clari.biz.finance.services
Subject: Danish National Bank cuts interest rates
Date: 21 May 91 17:12:23 GMT
COPENHAGEN (UPI) -- Denmark's National Bank Tuesday announced a cut in
its two main interest rates, citing low inflation and stable
international interest conditions.
A statement from the National Bank said its lending rate was to be
cut 0.5 percentage point to 9.5 percent. The bank deposit rate was also
to be cut by 0.5 point to 9 percent.
Both cuts were to take effect May 22, the National Bank said.
Tuesday's announcement followed the release earlier Tuesday of April
consumer prices, which rose 0.2 percent over March. Denmark's consumer
prices were up 2.6 percent in the 12-month period ending in April.
|
| 107.21 | Danish bond market largest in Scandinavia | TLE::SAVAGE | | Fri May 31 1991 13:46 | 32 |
| From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: clari.biz.economy.world,clari.news.europe,clari.biz.invest,
clari.biz.finance.services
Subject: J.P. Morgan to in develop Danish Government Bond Index
Date: 30 May 91 15:13:27 GMT
NEW YORK (UPI) -- Denmark will become part of the J.P. Morgan
Government Bond Index effective July 1, the bank said Thursday.
With Denmark's inclusion, the J.P. Morgan index will track on a daily
basis the total return performance of liquid fixed-income securities in
12 international markets.
Danske Securities, one of the largest market players in Danish bonds,
will provide J.P. Morgan with daily security prices and related
information to calculate the index.
J.P. Morgan began to work with Danske Securities to create a daily
index data in December 1985.
"Adding the Danish Bond Index enhances the premier position of our
government bond index as the market leader and the most representative
in the industry," said John Lobley, designer of the Danish index and a
member of J.P. Morgan's Bond Index Group.
"Denmark is logical for inclusion for several reasons: The Danish
bond market is the largest in Scandinavia and the ninth largest in the
world, benefiting from a stable political and economic environment."
J.P. Morgan's Government Bond Index offers international
institutional investors -- mainly investment managers and fund sponsors --
the ability to measure portfolio performance against more than 2,000
indices and statistics for national markets, currencies, maturity
ranges, levels of liquidity, and currency hedging.
The J.P. Morgan index currently tracks securities in Australia,
Belgium, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the
Netherlands, Spain and the United States.
|
| 107.22 | Per Capita GDP | TLE::SAVAGE | | Fri Oct 18 1991 12:27 | 36 |
| From: [email protected] (raymond thomas pierrehumbert)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Date: 18 Oct 91 03:16:16 GMT
Sender: [email protected] (NewsMistress)
Organization: University of Chicago
Here is some data for GDP (or GNP) from World Atlas CD-ROM
Per Capita GDP:
Denmark $14,300; real growth rate 1.4%
Norway $17,900; real growth rate 5.7%
Sweden $15,700; real growth rate 2.1%
Finland $15,000; real growth rate 4.6%
USA $21,082; real growth rate 2.9%
Japan $15,600; real growth rate 4.8% (GNP)
So, right now, as far as Scandinavia goes, Norway is the place to be.
It is interesting that Finland is coming close to the oil-rich
Norwegians, despite having no natural resources other than sisu.
GDP is not a very good measure of standard of living. I think that in
many regards, the standard of living (though not the disposable income)
in Sweden is better than the US. Getting a year of work to spend with
your newborn is priceless, as is having the vacation time to spend in
the countryside. However you slice it, though, the slow growth rate of
sweden is a problem.
I don't have data on cost of living, but I'd bet Norway is highest,
especially if you drink. This too is hard to measure, though, since
people adjust behavior to accomodate the local situation. During my
sabbatical year in Stockholm, my family actually spent LESS than we
usually did in Princeton (because opera tickets were a lot cheaper, we
had no car instead of two, dagis was practically free, medical care
likewise, the boats to the skaergard were cheap, and so were vacation
rentals).
|
| 107.23 | Norway's banking system | TLE::SAVAGE | | Fri Oct 18 1991 12:28 | 22 |
| From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: clari.biz.economy.world,clari.biz.finance.services,
clari.news.europe
Subject: Norway to strengthen its banking system
Date: 17 Oct 91 21:21:17 GMT
OSLO, Norway (UPI) -- The Norwegian government said Thursday it will
propose a series of measures to strengthen the country's banking system.
The proposal, presented by Norway's Minister of Finance Sigbjorn
Johnsen, is expected to improve commercial banks' earnings and
strengthen their capital position.
The measures were proposed after a leading Norwegian bank,
Christiania Bank og Kreditkasse, reported a substantial third-quarter
loss that, it said, would wipe out its private capital.
Among the measures proposed: liquidity requirements would be reduced;
banks' premium payments into the guarantee funds will be reduced to 25
percent of the 1992 requirements; and the government would make a
special allocation to the Government Bank Insurance Fund.
Norway also would reduce commercial banks' debt service burden and
extend the powers of the Government Bank Insurance Fund, including the
right for the fund to buy equity issued by banks.
|
| 107.24 | Quality of life is high | TLE::SAVAGE | | Thu Oct 24 1991 13:08 | 30 |
| From: [email protected] (Pekka Juhani Taipale)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Date: 24 Oct 91 12:47:34 GMT
Sender: [email protected] (Usenet pseudouser id)
Organization: Helsinki University of Technology
In article <[email protected]> [email protected]
(Linnanvuori Matti) writes:
> These figures are probably from 1989. In 1990 Finland showed a
> zero growth and this year the GNP will sink by at least 5 percent.
> Finland is probably the most expensive Nordic country, Norway is
Production should start going up again now that trade and employer
unions agreed on a 6.9% pay cut. That should increase Finland's
competitiveness significantly. Finns have for a few years been spending
more money than they make; now there's end to it. I'm pretty hopeful.
It's quite hard to decide which country is more expensive and which is
cheaper. It always depends on what you consume. I have the general
impression that Norway is more expensive than Finland, but there is not
much difference. Sweden is slightly cheaper, and in Denmark the cost
of living is much less. I don't know enough about Iceland, Faroe
Islands etc. to say anything about them.
Besides, GNP is not a very good measure of standard of living, and
standard of living is not a very good measure of quality of life... I'd
say that all Scandinavian countries are very good to live in.
Scandinavian GNP is lower than in US, but the wealth is distributed
more evenly.
|
| 107.25 | Standard of Living measure | OSL09::MAURITZ | DTN(at last!)872-0238; @NWO | Mon Oct 28 1991 05:22 | 30 |
| re .24 (& .23)
As to whether GDP per capita is good measure of standard of living.
Per capita GDP is a better measure of standard of living than average
earnings (especially average take-home earnings), because it factors in
that portion of (at least material) value that is channelled through
public spending and is not registered through the private sector. This
means, e.g., that university education is included in the GDP/
person figure, whether this is free (paid by govt) or completely paid
for out of private wages. Of course, what GDP per capita does NOT
reflect is whether you have a corrupt dictatorship that doesn't spend
anything on higher education, but uses that money on anything from arms
to luxury trappings. Nor does it reflect wealth distribution.
However, GDP/person combined with a measure of wealth distribution
(there are many ways of expressing this, some better than others) will
probably give as good as expression of that elusive concept "standard
of living" as can be expressed numerically.
Oh, yes. What currency equivalencies are used? If you use a "price
equivalency" exchange rate (tables are published on this, though they
tend NOT to be quoted as much in the media), you will alsoo have
factored in local cost of living. Though, as pointed out in .24, you
still have the problems of all cost indexes---that the distribution of
goods purchased will vary by geographic area/culture AND over time
within a given culture.
Mauritz
|
| 107.26 | la vida | CORREO::RAMOS_J | | Mon Oct 28 1991 19:32 | 8 |
| re .25
< GNP/person combined with a measure of wealth distribution..>
But general term Scandinavian countries has a greater wealth
distribution. Things might be expense but there little rich and
poor. The distribution is equal among the people come pair to Western
Euproean and North America.
Jos�
|
| 107.27 | Reflecting purchasing power | OSL09::MAURITZ | DTN(at last!)872-0238; @NWO | Thu Nov 21 1991 10:04 | 40 |
| Jos�
You are probably right that we have fairly even distribution of wealth
here. However, even this figure is dependent on just HOW it is
measured. Just two examples:
a) Ratio between top 20% incomes vs bottom 20%
b) Top 5% (or 2%) vs bottom of the same
Interestingly, South Korea scores better (lower) than Sweden on measure
a above, according to a recent article in The Economist. I do not know
what the result would be according to b above; I suspect that the
positions would be reversed (having read of some very wealthy Koreans).
Quite apart from the above, the latest issue of The Economist (16th
November) had a table of comparison indexes based on GDP/per person,
AND where "purchasing power parities" were used, as opposed to currency
exchange rates (in .25 I said these were not often published in the
media). Here are the rankings (they are not exact, since they were in
the form of a bar chart and I used a ruler to read off a scale):
GDP/per person, 1990 at purchasing power parities (US=100)
1) US - 100
2) Canada - 95
3) Switzerland - 90
4) Norway - 82
5) Japan - 80
<OECD average - 76>
6) Iceland - 75
7) Sweden - 74
8) Austria - 67
<EC average - 65>
Again, the above says nothing of distribution of wealth, but it DOES
reflect purchasing power.
Mauritz
|
| 107.28 | Re: .17 & .18: Petrol prices updated | TLE::SAVAGE | | Mon Feb 17 1992 10:23 | 20 |
| From: [email protected] (Wolfgang Diestelkamp)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: Re: Need information for traveling in Scandinavia
Date: 17 Feb 92 11:19:35 GMT
Sender: [email protected]
Organization: GMD-FIRST, Berlin
In article <[email protected]>
[email protected] (Christine Prunty) writes:
> When I was there last year it was $5+/gal (7-8 kr/liter) and they were
> talking about raising it. What's the current price?
In southern Sweden it's about 6.10 to 6.40 SKr per liter unleaded.
Diesel is about 5.10 SKr per liter.
--
Wolfgang Diestelkamp
[email protected]
[email protected]
|
| 107.29 | Cost of living in Denmark | TLE::SAVAGE | | Thu Mar 05 1992 14:12 | 85 |
| From: [email protected] (DELORME eric p)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: A summary of the Danish cost of living stuff...
Date: 4 Mar 92 22:32:46 GMT
Sender: [email protected]
Organization: Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec
Well, folks. For those who asked for a summary here it is. Now all
those who contibuted to this, you know who you are (and tusind tak!) -
sorry I forgot to credit everyone. There's no logical split in any of
this, but I think you'll all get the point.
Here goes:
I would estimate the cost of food and such to be approximately 50 %
more expensive as in the US (and Canada I guess), some goods maybe up
to 100 %.
You need to spend around 300-400DKK per month on transportation. Public
transportation in the area around Copenhagen is execelent.
Some prices to give you an idea:
Beer: Carlsberg, Tuborg -- 5-10 DKK
Milk: 1L -- 7 DKK
McDonalds: coke burger fries -- 50 DKK
Movie: 35-50 DKK
btw. the V.A.T in Denmark is 25 % - outrageous? yes.
Prices in Denmark is very reasonable compared to Norway or Sweden. I
don't know what kind of fun is in your mind, but if you are thinking of
a happy night in town, go by train to the center of town (Copenhagen of
course, not aller�d), where there is something to do always. In
restaurants you can get very good meals from 150 DKK (everything
included) and Pub Prices are in the inner town (Middle Age Town) 15-20
DKK and in N�rrebro for example about 8-13 DKK for a beer.
I don't know about all prices in DK these days (it's been a while since
I was there), but as a visitor to both DK and CDN, I can tell you that
it's a split as to which is more expensive. Some things, like daily
groceries, are less expensive in DK than CDN. I think in particular of
dairy products, especially milk. If I remember, I used to pay about
$.85 us for a liter of lowfat milk in 1984. I doubt whether it's
changed a lot: Denmark's dairy industry, unlike Canada's, is geared for
export and is therefore both unprotected (w/ marketing boards, etc) and
efficient. You'll notice an incredible difference in quality, too.
Beef is very expensive; pork and fish are not. Neither is like you are
used to. The pork is very lean and flavorful, fish is _always_
unbelievably fresh.
One other note about groceries--if things haven't changed, which I
expect, you'll have to do your shopping before about 6pm, and only get
a half-day on Saturday. A real pain for me as an American used to 24
hour day shopping. But that's DK for you. Although I'm fluent in
Danish, I cannot really find a sufficient translation for 'convenient.'
But 'til gengaeld' there's no English for 'hyggeligt,' either.
I've recently learned that a draft beer in Jutland will cost $6- US.
You had best not smoke, either.
I was in Montreal 1990-91 as an exchange student, and I found that
prices in Montreal are about the same as in Copenhagen. That goes for
food in general, and clothes. Meat is a bit cheaper in Montreal,
alcohol prices are about the same: go to an ordinary shop and you get
a beer for 5kr, or go to a "depanneur" and pay 7-10kr. Another example
is milk, I just bought 1 liter of partly skimmed milk for 4.75kr. I use
approx. 1000kr/month for food, including small snacks etc., but NOT
including visits to restaurants. At some cheap restaurants you can get
a lunch special for 39kr, but else you will have to pay 100kr for a
meal, not including beverages (and drinking just water with the meal at
a restaurant is often possible, but not common).
2700 Kr is ok, however if you have to study in the center og
Copenhagen, you must subtract about 700 Dkr/month for train fare,
leaving 2000 DKR a month for food, which should be quite ok, but a
little low. I have a wife and to kids on 3 and 5 years and we spend
about 4000 Kr pr month without a lot of savings, so you should be quite
ok.
--
----
Eric DeLorme
[email protected]
|
| 107.30 | Currency status, Dec 1992 | TLE::SAVAGE | | Thu Dec 10 1992 13:53 | 47 |
| From: [email protected] (UPI)
Newsgroups: clari.news.gov.international,clari.news.economy,
clari.news.europe,clari.news.politics
Subject: Norway floats currency
Date: Thu, 10 Dec 92 7:04:14 PST
OSLO, Norway (UPI) -- Norway's Central Bank on Thursday floated the
krone and reduced its overnight lending rate from 16 percent to 11
percent after failing to withstand pressure on its currency following a
similar Swedish move three weeks ago.
"The Norwegian krone has been exposed to severe pressure since the
floating of the Swedish krona, reaching new heights due to the problems
in the EMS (European Monetary System) the last few weeks," the central
bank said in a statement.
"Money market rates have been very high, but have failed to
normalize conditions in the foreign exchange market or reverse the
sizeable currency outflow in November," the bank said.
"Further measures will not be able to stabilize the condition," it
said.
The decision to remove the crown from its tie-in with the EMS
immediately shaved 6 percent off the value of the crown, and was a
further psychological setback for Norway, which is plagued by deep
recession.
Sweden, Norway and Finland all fixed their currency rates in a
unilateral move designed to show goodwill as the non-European Community
countries moved closer to membership of the community.
Thursday's decision in Oslo meant all three now have given up the
policy.
A spokesman for the Norwegian central bank refused Thursday to say
how much investment had been withdrawn from Norway, but market analysts
said the amount was "considerable."
"We are talking about very major movements," one arbitrage
department spokesman said.
The decision in Norway once again highlighted the strong
interdependence of the Scandinavian economies, each of which have the
others as their major markets.
Foreign investors in particular have a tendency to address the
markets of Sweden, Norway and Denmark as one.
Pressures on the three Scandinavian currencies increased up to mid-
November when Sweden decided to float its currency. A brief lull in
speculation was followed by a run on the Norwegian and Danish
currencies.
Denmark has withstood the minor speculation on its currency and
remains within the EMS.
Pressure on Norway further increased this week as rumors spread of a
threat by Central Bank Governor Hermod Skaanland to resign if Norway
relinquished its fixed currency policy.
|
| 107.31 | Oslo: cost of living update | TLE::SAVAGE | | Mon Jun 28 1993 12:33 | 36 |
| Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
From: Stein J|rgen Rypern <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Questions about living in Oslo
Sender: [email protected] (Stein J|rgen Rypern)
Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
Date: Mon, 28 Jun 1993 10:05:30 GMT
I have recently looked into the cost of living in Oslo on behalf of an
american friend, so I guess I could provide at least some ideas about
living costs etc.
Cost of renting a modest apartment (1 bedroom). I'd say on the order of
2500 - 5000 NOK/month. I counted some 30+ ads with apartements
('leiligheter') for rent in the newspaper 'Aftenposten' on a wednesday
last week, approximately 10 of them with furniture. The evening
edition of the Aftenposten is definitively the place to start looking
for a place to stay.
Relative cost of living ? Difficult to estimate. If judged by the
complaints from tourists, Norway is more expensive. But then a
norwegian salary would be adjusted for norwegian prices, wouldn't it ?
Living without a car in Oslo ? Sure, no problem. Fairly good public
transportation (Bus, trams, subways, local trains). A season ticket
(1 month) is apprximately 450 NOK.
Smile,
/Stein
==========================================================================
Stein Rypern, student ! SOL-3 (TERRA)
Department of informatics ! HOME OF THE DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS
University of Oslo, Norway ! (and a species descended from squirrels,
[email protected] ! but I forget the name - homo something ?)
|
| 107.32 | Comparing Norwegian and North American living standards | TLE::SAVAGE | | Tue Jun 29 1993 11:18 | 187 |
| Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
From: [email protected] (Tor Slettnes)
Subject: Re: Cost of living in Norway
Sender: [email protected]
Organization: California State University, Sacramento
Date: Mon, 28 Jun 1993 16:14:11 GMT
[email protected] (Barbara Wasson) replies [layout modified]:
> Anyway, it is an interesting topic - most of my friends here have
> houses, 3 pairs of skiis, mountain bikes, take a holiday out of the
> country every year, a couple of kids (or more) and are generally
> better off than my Canadian friends (of comparable job status, age,
> etc.). Although I earn about 60-70.000 NOK less than I would if I was
> in Canada, and I have bought two pairs of skiis, a mountain bike and
> took a trip to Australia/New Zealand this year, spent 495 NOK for a
> turkey to celebrate Canadian thanksgiving (versus the 72 NOK my mother
> spent in Canada for an even larger turkey), I have way more money in
> the bank that I ever had living in Canada! BTW - taxes are not that
> much different here than the tax bracket I was in in Canada (33 versus
> 28 %).
>
> Any thoughts from others?
I think your situation is typical. People in the US have comparable
salary ranges to those in Norway, often more, and common prices are
significantly lower here (I'd say 2/3 of what they are in Norway). Yet,
people in Norway seem to be at least as well off!
Some reasons:
1) Education and health insurance is free in Norway, social benefits
are in general more numerous.
2) While most prices are lower in America, some very important ones
are at least as high as in Norway: Clothes, rent, electricity.
Also, service-oriented prices are in general proportionally higher
in the US.
3) People do - yes they do - consume more in America. Disgustingly
enough, success is measured in rather material ways here.
4) Different habits. Your example of restaurant habits is a good one.
Particulary, 1) is important. While the nominal salaries may be
proportionally higher here, there are also a number of things that are
not covered by it.
_____________________________________________________________________________
From: [email protected] (Raul Izahi Lopez Hernandez)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: Re: Cost of living in Norway
Date: 28 Jun 1993 21:38:08 GMT
Organization: Stanford University
Nnnnnno. For the same education your acquisitive power is less in
Norway than in the US. You can buy less books or travel less comparably
(I would not talk about Mercedes or Jaguars... :) ). Also the salaries
are more compressed. The range of salaries is less "dramatic".
In Norway you see a very clearly defined merit scale. Most people with
a boat, a big house or a new car are people over 40 years old who have
broken their backs for many years if material property is an
equivalence in being well off. Forget about the big house, their own
house. But I agree that most Norwegians do not envy the American
material lifestyle. It is part of the culture to not have stratospheric
ambitions when it comes to material issues. Here I have adopted the
Norwegian point of view :).
Norwegians manage to read more newspapers and books than most Americans
though, and also happen to live in beautiful natural settings that can
only be found in some tourist areas like Lake Tahoe or Yosemite in
California for which you pay for or have to drive long distances.
>
>Some reasons:
> 1) Education and health insurance is free in Norway, social benefits
> are in general more numerous.
Yes, agree.
> 2) While most prices are lower in America, some very important ones
> are at least as high as in Norway: Clothes, rent, electricity.
> Also, service-oriented prices are in general proportionally higher
> in the US.
In Norway Gasoline is about 3 times more expensive and clothes are
about 2 times expensive. Rent is about the same in an urban location.
> 3) People do - yes they do - consume more in America. Disgustingly
> enough, success is measured in rather material ways here.
Agree 200%. Success is MUCH more than material possessions specially
where many Americans live a "plastic" economy where most of what they
"own" is not paid off but is on credit. That includes houses, cars, and
all sorts of appliances, toys or even vacations. Many people live lives
that they cannot readily afford.
>Particulary, 1) is important. While the nominal salaries may be
>proportionally higher here, there are also a number of things that are
>not covered by it.
I used to pay only 73 NKr (bit more than $10US) for a physician checkup
in Norway.
RAUL IZAHI
--
-----------------> Solely responsible for my writings <----------------------
Raul Izahi Lopez Hernandez | Jeg liker Norge! Har du vaert i Norge?
[email protected] | GUADALAJARA - PALO ALTO - BERGEN
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
From: [email protected] (Tor Slettnes)
Subject: Re: Cost of living in Norway
Sender: [email protected]
Organization: California State University, Sacramento
Date: Tue, 29 Jun 1993 00:59:39 GMT
Raul,
I like the way you say: "Nnnnno! You are absolutely right!" :-) But
I'm not so sure I agree that you can 'travel less comparably'. If you
mean inside Norway, compared to inside the US/inside America, you are
right. Prices are higher in Norway. But Norwegians often travel abroad,
much more so than their American counterparts. Usually, they find
cheaper prices there than at home.
You mentioned education. In general, the salary differences between
someone with and someone without education is also bigger in the US
than in Norway. Quite logical, since:
a) A smaller percent of people in the US take college education
b) Education costs more in the US
Raul:
> In Norway you see a very clearly defined merit scale. Most people
> with a boat, a big house or a new car are people over 40 years old who
> have broken their backs for many years if material property is an
> equivalence in being well off. Forget about the big house, their own
> house. But I agree that most Norwegians do not envy the American
> material lifestyle. It is part of the culture to not have stratospheric
> ambitions when it comes to material issues. Here I have adopted the
> Norwegian point of view :).
Hmm.. are you saying that there are no spoiled brats in Norway? That
all Norwegian property is acquired through hard work, pietism, self
sacrifice? Then: Hold your horses a little bit here. Maybe in some
parts of the country (western regions) you have a point, but noone can
be as decadent as a typical YAP (*) from Holmenkoll�sen in Oslo..
(*) YAP = "Young Advancing People/Person", a term used to describe
young people who are economically successful, very selfish,
materealistic. The culture developed in many European cities
in the early 80's, and stuck in Oslo well into the 90's.
That being said, you are probably right about the general trend. There
ARE more spoiled brats in America ("The Porsche? Oh, just something dad
gave me for Christmas.."). Maybe because of a lack of identity?
> Norwegians manage to read more newspapers and books than most
> Americans though, and also happen to live in beautiful natural settings
> that can only be found in some tourist areas like Lake Tahoe or Yosemite
> in California for which you pay for or have to drive long distances.
I went to both of those places, and found nothing special about them.
Other Norwegians are said to have given similar reactions.
> In Norway Gasoline is about 3 times more expensive and clothes are
> about 2 times expensive. Rent is about the same in an urban location.
Gasoline: I thought it was more than 3 times. One gallon costs $1.12
here, aproximately NOK 1.80 per liter. In Norway, last I knew, prices
were up to NOK 7.00 per liter.
Rent: Yes I agree, it's about the same in nominal value. That makes it
cheaper compared to other things in Norway, than in the US.
> Agree 200%. Success is MUCH more than material possessions specially
> where many Americans live a "plastic" economy where most of what they
> "own" is not paid off but is on credit. That includes houses, cars, and
> all sorts of appliances, toys or even vacations. Many people live lives
> that they cannot readily afford.
The same thing happened through the 20's...
-Tor
|
| 107.33 | Professional salaries: comparing Norway and US(Calif.) | TLE::SAVAGE | | Wed Jun 30 1993 11:56 | 19 |
| From: [email protected] (Raul Izahi Lopez Hernandez)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: Re: Cost of living in Norway
Date: 29 Jun 1993 19:05:34 GMT
Organization: Stanford University
In Norway a person with only high school plus a two year technical
degree makes per month, say 12,000 NKr, the engineer with a masters
makes 18,000 NKr, and the Ph.D. with tons of papers published and 10+
years of experience makes 24,000 NKr in a research institute. Here in
California the salaries, before taxes as above, would be 14,000 NKr,
24,500 Nkr, and 43,750 Nkr respectively.
RAUL IZAHI
--
-----------------> Solely responsible for my writings <----------------------
Raul Izahi Lopez Hernandez | Jeg liker Norge! Har du vaert i Norge?
[email protected] | GUADALAJARA - PALO ALTO - BERGEN
|
| 107.34 | Finnish economy and nordic inflation figures | TLE::SAVAGE | | Tue Jul 20 1993 10:51 | 70 |
| Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
From: [email protected] (Olli-Jukka Paloneva Tkkk)
Subject: FINNISH ECONOMY
Sender: [email protected] (Usenet NEWS)
Organization: ABO AKADEMI UNIVERSITY, FINLAND
Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1993 10:51:01 GMT
FINNISH ECONOMY IN FIGURES (quoted from Yleisradio text tv)
Unemployment
The level of the unemployed rose up to 19.2% in June.
The total number of the unemployed was 496 200,
of which 112900 under the age of 25.
The development of GNP and industrial production
GNP industrial
1992 -3.6%
2Q -3.8%
3Q -3.8%
4Q -2.4% Dec '92 + 2,3%
1993
1Q -2.5% Jan '93 + 5,1%
Feb '93 + 4.8%
Mar '93 + 3.1%
Apr '93 + 4.6%
May '93 + 0.1%
Balance of payments, May 1993 (million FIMs)
1992 1993
export 9098 11402 +25%
import 8094 7768 -4%
balance of
trade 1004 3634
balance of
payments -2200 600
Inflation Jun '92-'93 2.1%
transport 6.9%
health care 6.1%
breweradges,
cigarrettes 4.9%
spare time
activities 3.9%
clothing,
shoes 3.9%
TOTAL 2.1%
food -1.9%
housing -2.8%
Inflation May 1992-93
Finland 2.4%
Sweden 4.8%
Norway 2.5%
Denmark 1.0%
Germany 4.2%
Great Britain 1.3%
USA 3.2%
EC 3.3%
|
| 107.35 | Denmark: labour market reform hits bottleneck | TLE::SAVAGE | | Wed Apr 13 1994 11:08 | 44 |
| From: [email protected] (Reuter/Lars Foyen)
Newsgroups: clari.world.europe.western,clari.news.labor,clari.biz.labor
Subject: Danish unemployment at new high in shock for government
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 94 9:30:13 PDT
COPENHAGEN, April 12 (Reuter) - Denmark announced on Tuesday
a surprise rise in the February jobless rate to a record 12.6
percent, defying the government's all-out effort to turn the
unemployment curve in an election year.
The number of jobless rose to a new post-war high of 352,900
from 350,500, 12.5 percent of the workforce, in January.
The financial markets had expected a fall to 12.3 percent,
mainly due to state-subsidised job-rotation schemes introduced
this year.
Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen's Social Democrat-led
government which came to power in January last year needs a
successful fight against the jobless trend.
In a rare joint statement, Finance Minister Mogens Lykketoft
and Economy Minister Marianne Jelved blamed the February rise on
the slow implementation of a labour market reform.
"The figure was surprising because we know employment has
been rising in the past few months in several sectors and
municipalities," Lykketoft and Jelved said.
They said the job-rotation schemes, offering the chance of
parental leave, job training leave or sabbaticals at 80 percent
of the maximum unemployment benefit in order to create vacancies
for some of the unemployed, were pushing the jobless rate lower.
But the effect was outweighed by bottlenecks in the
implementation of a labour market reform which had temporarily
cut the number of people employed in other labour market
schemes.
Lykketoft and Jelved said they stood by the government's
forecast that unemployment would fall to an average 11.4 percent
in 1994 and that Gross Domestic Product would rise by three
percent, one of the best growth rates in Europe.
Danish opposition parties, critical of the labour market
programmes, said the February data concealed a serious rise in
real unemployment.
"The government is this year transferring tens of thousands
of Danes from the unemployment statistics to job-rotation and
other labour market schemes," said Helge Sander, the Liberal
Party's labour market spokesman.
"But this does not solve any problems for the unemployed or
for the Danish economy," he added.
|
| 107.36 | Finland: breaking away from recession | TLE::SAVAGE | | Fri Apr 29 1994 13:41 | 61 |
| From: [email protected] (Reuter/Fredrik Dahl)
Newsgroups: clari.world.europe.northern,clari.biz.economy.world,
clari.world.europe.western
Subject: Finnish economy seen breaking away from recession
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 94 5:40:11 PDT
HELSINKI, April 26 (Reuter) - The Finnish economy will break
out of recession with total output growing two percent in 1994
and five percent in 1995, the finance ministry said on Tuesday.
In its latest economic outlook, the ministry said exports
and industrial output would continue to increase fast and that
domestic demand seemed to have bottomed out.
"This year, the economy will finally break away from
recession," the ministry said. "The economic outlook is quite
optimistic in industry as well as among consumers.
The forecast was based on the assumption that Finland
becomes a member of the European Union on January 1, 1995.
Finland, Sweden, Austria and Norway last month reached
agreements with Brussel on entry terms but membership also needs
approval of national referendums and parliaments, the EU
countries and the European parliament.
"If that (membership from January 1) does not take place,
economic developments in 1995 will be weaker and the
unemployment rate higher than now forecast," the ministry said.
"The impact would be especially negative on investment and
interest rates. The long-term prospects, too, would be adversely
affected," it added.
Finland, in its biggest peacetime slump since independence
from Russia in 1917, saw its gross domestic product plunge 7.1
percent in 1991, 3.8 percent in 1992 and a further 2.5 percent
last year.
It was hit hard by the collapse of the Soviet market and by
weak Western markets for its forestry and engineering products.
But exports are rising quickly following a 12.3 percent
devaluation in November 1991 and a further depreciation after
the markka was allowed to float in September 1992 -- paving the
way for an economic recovery.
"Next year total output is likely to grow by some five
percent, because exports will continue to grow considerably and
domestic demand, too, is expected to rise significantly," the
ministry said.
Jussi Mustonen, chief economist at bank Kansallis-Osake-
Pankki (KOP), described the ministry's growth forecast as
realistic and said the 1995 figure might even turn out higher.
The ministry said the current account surplus would grow to
15.5 billion markka ($2.84 billion) in 1995 after swinging to
surplus this year for the first time since 1978.
Unemployment was also likely to improve next year and the
average jobless rate was forecast to fall to 17 percent compared
with 18.5 percent this year, the ministry said.
This would still be far above the rate of some four percent
in the late 1980s when the Finnish economy was one of the
fastest growing in the West.
Inflation, at 0.3 percent year-on-year in March, was
expected to average one percent in 1994 and two percent in 1995.
But the ministry also warned that the revival of economic
growth would not yet quickly improve the state's finances.
The Finnish state became a major borrower on international
markets as the country plunged into depression and the central
government debt is forecast to reach 72 percent of GDP in 1995,
up from only 17.1 percent in 1991.
|
| 107.37 | Norway: pulling out of slump, proposes tax hikes | TLE::SAVAGE | | Fri May 06 1994 13:10 | 39 |
| From: [email protected] (AP)
Newsgroups: clari.world.europe.northern,clari.world.europe.western
Subject: Tax Hikes Proposed By Norway
Date: Fri, 6 May 94 5:50:05 PDT
OSLO, Norway (AP) -- Norway is pulling out of a six-year economic
slump, although tax hikes and spending cuts are needed to offset
lower than expected oil revenues, the government said Friday.
In its revised 1994 budget, the government projected a 5.5
percent unemployment rate this year, compared with 6 percent in
1993. It estimated a 1.25 inflation rate and 4 percent growth of
the gross national product.
"When we see there is a clear upswing, but at the same time it
seems oil prices will be lower than expected, it is correct to
undertake measures so the national budget deficit does not
increase," said Finance Minister Sigbjorn Johnsen.
The Labor government's revised budget proposed tax increases on
personal assets, tobacco, gasoline, and some motor vehicles to help
keep the 338.7 billion kroner ($46.7 billion) budget at the 42.5
billion kroner ($5.8 billion) deficit approved in December.
The regular mid-year revision, which must be approved by
Parliament before taking effect, also proposed reduced government
spending on employment programs, saying the job market had
improved.
Norway is Western Europe's largest oil exporter and depends
heavily on revenues from its North Sea fields, which pump 2.5
million barrels a day of oil plus natural gas.
The original budget was based on an oil price of 120 kroner
($16.50) per barrel. It was adjusted to 110 kroner ($15) in the
revised budget.
The government also lowered its estimate for Norway's foreign
trade surplus by 16 billion kroner ($2.2 billion) to 20 billion
kroner (dlrs 2.75 billion). The 1993 surplus was 17 billion kroner
($2.34 billion).
Johnsen said tough austerity measures imposed after crude prices
collapsed in 1986 plunging the economy into a slump, were now
paying off. The government tightened credit policies and began tax
reforms in 1987 to cool off the economy, which had overheated on
oil wealth, easy credit and tax rules that encouraged borrowing.
|
| 107.38 | Price of petrol (gasoline) in Denmark | TLE::SAVAGE | | Tue Jul 19 1994 09:50 | 21 |
| c.f. replies .17,.18 & .28:
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
From: [email protected] (Bodil Gram)
Subject: Re: QUESTION: gas prices in DENMARK
Sender: [email protected] (Math Department)
Organization: Open University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Date: Tue, 19 Jul 1994 07:26:47 GMT
In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] (Bjoern Greinert) wrote:
> ...average prices for...unleaded 95 and unleaded 98
> oct. gas in Denmark.
I looked at the nearest petrol station. The prices were:
95 oct. 5 kroner and 53 oere per litre
98 oct. 5 kroner and 67 oere per litre
[email protected] ..
|
| 107.39 | Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden: 1995/96 outlook | TLE::SAVAGE | | Tue Dec 20 1994 12:05 | 149 |
| HELSINKI, Dec 20 (Reuter) - The economic recovery in
Finland, driven by booming exports, is stronger than expected
and unemployment could fall to 14 percent at the end of 1996,
the OECD said in its year-end report on Tuesday.
``Evidence is accumulating that economic growth is
accelerating, driven especially by the export sector following
recent years' improvement in international competitiveness,'' it
said.
The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development forecast gross domestic product (GDP) -- which
plunged by as much as 13 percent in 1991-93 -- to grow 3.5
percent this year, 4.8 percent in 1995 and 3.9 percent in 1996.
``Easy monetary conditions and the unwinding of private
sector balance sheet problems should provide the impetus for a
strengthening and broadening of the recovery in the coming two
years,'' the OECD said.
The OECD report was written before the Bank of Finland,
concerned about inflation expectations, raised a key money
market interest rate to 5.50 percent from 5.01 percent.
Finland, one of the fastest growing economies in the West in
the late 1980s, plunged into recession in 1991 due to weak
western markets and the collapse of the Soviet market.
But the economy is now recovering thanks to growing exports.
The finance ministry expects GDP to rise 4.5 percent next year
and various Finnish research institutes and banks see 1995 GDP
growth at between five and 6.5 percent.
Despite the upswing, unemployment remains high at 17.5
percent in October but the OECD expected an improvement.
``With labour force growth projected to be weak, the
unemployment rate could fall to 14 percent by the end of 1996.''
With domestic slack persisting, inflation remains subdued.
But the OECD also listed some uncertainties, saying there
may be reduced mobility among those without work and that supply
constraints in specific parts of the labour market might boost
wage inflation.
``These factors, and the possibility that long-term interest
rates may not decline as projected, might weaken the recovery.''
========================================================================
COPENHAGEN, Dec 20 (Reuter) - A buoyant economic recovery is
well established in Denmark but faces the threat of upward
pressure on wages and prices as the unemployment rate falls, the
OECD said on Tuesday in its end-year report.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
painted a largely rosy picture but said there were uncertainties
attached to the Danish consumption-led recovery which is
supported by a tax reform.
``The recovery is expected to become more broadly based over
the projection period, with net exports strengthening and
private investment growth gradually gathering momentum,'' the
OECD report said.
``A prospective decline in the unemployment rate by around
2.5 percentage points (from more than 12 percent) could put some
upward pressure on wages and prices in the course of 1996,'' it
said.
The report forecast gross domestic product (GDP) growth of
4.7 percent in 1994, 3.3 percent in 1995 and 2.9 percent in
1996, and inflation (GDP implicit price deflator) of 1.8 percent
this year, 2.4 percent in 1995 and 2.7 percent in 1996.
Low wage and price inflation reflects the slack in the
economy, the report said, but added it was unclear how fast the
output gap will be closed, especially on the labour market where
public paid-leave schemes create uncertainty.
The Danish-German 10-year yield gap has grown to 130 basis
points from 25 in January, partly as a spill-over from financial
markets turmoil in other Nordic countries.
``But it may also have reflected an increased risk premium,
associated with heightened perceptions concerning the
possibility of a pickup in inflation in the course of the
recovery, especially given the uncertainty about the degree of
slack in the labour market.
========================================================================
OSLO, Dec 20 (Reuter) - Norway's mainland economy is
expected to continue growing in the next two years fuelled by
consumption, exports and investment, the OECD said on Tuesday in
its year-end report.
But the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development warned that wage pressure could prove stronger than
foreseen, possibly affecting competitiveness and requiring a
tighter monetary stance than assumed in the projections.
``With a robust and broadening recovery, unemployment is
projected to decline and inflation to edge up,'' it said.
The report forecast mainland gross domestic product (GDP)
growth, excluding shipping and oil industry, of 2.7 and 2.5
percent in 1995 and 1996 respectively.
Overall GDP growth, including offshore business, is expected
to be more volatile because the rapid expansion of oil and gas
output in 1994 is expected to be followed by a deceleration in
1995, according to the OECD.
``The recovery of the mainland economy is continuing into its
second year as the easing of monetary conditions is spurring
household spending,'' the report said. ``Non-energy exports have
also staged an upswing since early 1994, and should increase
further as the world economy expands.''
Capacity utilisation rates in the mainland sector were
expected to recover to normal levels, boosting sluggish business
investment, it said.
``With strong growth expected in the mainland economy, public
finances should improve considerably,'' it said.
Norway's Labour government on December 9 unveiled a final
budget proposal for 1995 under which the deficit would be halved
to 10.9 billion crowns ($1.6 billion) and launched measures to
boost mainland industrial competitiveness.
OECD said additional uncertainty was attached to the oil
price. ``The rapid expansion of oil production in recent years
has made public finances and the external current account
heavily dependent upon oil revenues,'' the report said.
========================================================================
STOCKHOLM, Dec 20 (Reuter) - Financial markets' confidence
in Sweden may be jolted further if it fails to curb a sharp
growth in debt, the OECD said on Tuesday.
``The greatest uncertainty to the projections surrounds
financial market confidence, and the risk that it may be further
jolted if progress towards stabilising the public debt-to-GDP
(gross domestic product) ratio is perceived as insufficient,'' it
said in its year-end report.
The export sector has been buoyant and the unemployment rate
has fallen, but the nascent recovery has been undermined by lack
of confidence associated with the build-up of public debt,
increasing the risk premium on long-term interest rates.
``The budget deficit for 1994 is estimated at more than 11
percent of GDP, despite benefitting from the termination of
support to the banking system,'' the Paris-based OECD said,
``As a result, the debt-to-GDP ratio is rising rapidly.''
The minority Social Democratic government, which took office
after the September general election, has said it aims to
stabilise state debt relative to GDP by 1998.
To meet this goal, the government has announced budget
strengthening measures of 57 billion crowns ($7.6 billion) --
3.75 percent of GDP -- over the coming four years and proposed a
further 20 billion ($2.7 billion) in the January budget.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
said since these fiscal measures have failed to restore
financial markets' confidence in the debt stabilisation
strategy, long-term rates are expected to remain above 10
percent.
Short-term rates could even firm in 1996 as international
rates are set to increase, it added.
``Under these circumstances rapidly rising debt servicing
charges would largely cancel out the improvement of the primary
balance, preventing the overall public deficit from falling much
below 10 percent of GDP in 1996,'' the OECD said.
Rating agency Moody's put Sweden's debt rating under review
for a possible downgrade in October, citing continuing
accumulation of public sector debt as a key reason.
The OECD said high interest rates are likely to continue to
depress domestic demand, keeping the annual GDP growth rate in
the 2.0 to 2.5 percent range.
The underlying inflation rate, however, should remain low,
it said.
|
| 107.40 | Price of gasoline (petrol) in Norway | TLE::SAVAGE | | Wed Mar 08 1995 12:21 | 15 |
| From: [email protected] (Arthur Hagen)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: Re: gasoline prices in Norway
Date: 5 Mar 1995 01:27:51 +0100
Organization: None
Unleaded fuel is cheaper in Norway than "regular", because of lower
taxation. 98 octane "super" costs more like Kr 8,90 a liter, or about
$5.20 for an American gallon. Recently prices have increased in areas
far from the capital, Oslo, because the government no longer pays the
extra freight charges. So prices vary by about 60 �/gal because of
this, in addition to natural competitive price differences between
companies and stations.
*Art
|
| 107.41 | Cost of living, Copenhagen Denmark | TLE::SAVAGE | | Tue Jul 25 1995 10:17 | 42 |
| From: Kim Mandix <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: Re: Cost of living in Copenhagen?
Date: 24 Jul 1995 09:09:55 GMT
Organization: ifak.dtu.dk
Hi, here are some prices from Copenhagen [summer 1995].
Currency DKK CAN$ US$
1/2 kg butter 19.90 5.00 3.70
1 L milk 5.50 1.40 1.00
500 g broccoli 16.20 4.10 3.00
500 g lean hamburger meat 36.95 9.35 6.85
1 transit ticket 10.00 2.50 1.85
typical paperback book (New in Danish) 99.00 25.00 18.35
daily newspaper 8.50 2.15 1.55
movie ticket 40.00 10.15 7.40
"cheap" restaurant/cafe meal 60.00 15.20 11.10
McDonnald menu (Coke, fries, burger) 39.95 10.15 7.40
1 month rent on an
average 4-room apartment 3000-4500 860-1140 555-833
The prices are "normal" prices, discounts are found. Prices include
sales tax, (VAT) 25%.
Currency rates used: 3.95 DKK/CAN$, 5.40 DKK/US$.
Note on currency rates:
I visited the UBC in the summer of 1992. Back then I think I payed 5.25
DKK/CAN$. The Danish currency has, as you see, since then become more
expensive for North Americans. Thus, the price for 1 L milk in
Denmark, which has been more or less constant. Has in CAN$ has gone up
from 1.05 to 1.40. An increase of 33%. The Danish inflation has been
approx. 2-3 % /year in the last few years.
All the above is based on a subjective survey.
Kim Mandix
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| 107.42 | Discussion: Denmark | TLE::SAVAGE | | Thu Oct 24 1996 12:14 | 82
|