How The Dutch Economy Shows We Can't Reduce Wealth Inequality With Taxes | Economics Explained

I am Indian guy living in Netherlands 🇳🇱. If what I see here is inequality, then I wish it spread into every country in the world 🌎

Surely the lesson from this is that giving ordinary people access to healthcare and a reasonable standard of living is not a threat to the rich elites.

What I learned from this video is that certain metrics can be used to show numerical inequality, but are worthless to demonstrate differences in quality of life.

Having lived in the Netherlands all I can say is that the minimum standard of living that they provide is something I found very valuable in a society. And perhaps the equality of access to healthcare and education is more important than any other equality that you can measure.

It’s fine to have high inequality as long as the poorest can afford quality education/health/food/shelter, etc. Inequality is not the problem, poverty is.

The Dutch have one of the most complex tax systems in the world. This video serves as proof that you cannot just understand it quickly, as the author got so many things wrong.

My main take from this video is that sometimes statistics, when observed outside of context can lead to incorrect conclusions, because Dutch cuisine aside, life in the Netherlands is great. :)

I might not buy a house here but I would definitely want my children to have the advantage of quality education and healthcare that the Netherlands offers. Plus the culture exposure here and similar countries is something I would definitely want my family to experience. There are much worse and unsafe places to live.

If this video were called "How to make the Netherlands most inequal country in the world by cherry picking data" it would be great.

"making home loans completely risk-free" Hey, I've seen this before. It's a classic.

The video potential is limitless. I achieved success with the easy steps below.

Agreed, I'm far more concerned with the well being of the lowest classes than how rich the rich are.

Well, if this isn't proof that economic metrics rarely paint a complete and accurate picture, nothing does. Perhaps the quality of life and overall happiness are better indicators of how well an economy is serving the people.

This is the type of research you get kicked out of a university for

Hi as a tax law student I would like to say that in the Netherlands most forms of passive income are not directly taxed. The housing market in the Netherlands is the biggest motor to inequality. Many independent surveys have come to the same conclusion that the Dutch tax system in it's current form actively creates inequality. A list of examples of things that are tax free in the Netherlands: renting out real estate, stock gains and dividends, art, yachts and renting them out and inheriting an active business. The Dutch tax law is so complex and riddled with exemptions that only those who can afford a good tax adviser can pay close to zero tax.

As a legal scholar, the Roman Dutch law prior to the introduction of the Napoleonic Code was the pinnacle of private and finance law in the world, even until this day. Roman Dutch legal principles make most western systems look like kindergarten law, being made up as they go. We use it to formulate really effective laws for cutting edge technology and finance across many jurisdictions.

As a dutch person, i want to correct a few things: 1st) once you own more then one house the mortage is not tax reductable anymore. There are however different systems you can apply to but they are all based on buisness model. 2nd) Every government funded loan, has a 25 year failsafe plan, that means that after 25 years all remaining loans are considered abolished if your income is not above a certain amount. 3rd) Inheritence can be wavered, wich means you will not inherit debt from your parents. 4th) Unlike many other countries, housing in the netherlands is considered a commodity not an investment.

As a Dutchman, I can say that many of the facts that are put forward are incorrect. As an example the mortgage interest deduction, this works really differently than stated.

I really like how the Northern European countries function. Meaning all Scandinavian countries, Uk, Netherlands and Germany. I feel most at home here because of policies, law, cityplanning and standards. America was a shock on many levels in that sense (especially two party system, cityplanning, no good social system, wealth inequality). Australia/New Zealand also come close to many of the standards as Northern Europe for as far as I know at least more than america. I hope in the next decades countries share knowledge and best practices instead of conflicts, bans and wars.

Nice video. It would be great if you list the sources of data of your videos (in this case the study you mention). It would help people do their own research and would add credibility to the content you’re creating