"The mugs of Europe" UK - HIGHEST PRICES, HIGHEST TAXES, HIGHEST INTEREST RATES, HIGHEST CRIME, MOST WORK UK - LOWEST PENSIONS, LEAST HOLIDAYS, WORST SERVICES, MOST CORRUPTION / BUREAUCRACY http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2002/jun/09/workandcareers.theobserver The mugs of Europe Britons work hardest, explains Jill Insley, yet other nations end up better off ... according to a new survey for The MarketPlace, the independent advisory arm of Bradford & Bingley bank. It compared the finances of families in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK and found that: · We work the longest hours, but pay the most tax · We spend most on leisure, but at the expense of saving · our [homes] cost twice as much, and only the Germans pay more for somewhere to live. ... Work and income Britons put in 55.7bn hours of paid work, an average of some 2,000 hours per employee. The French, with the same size population as ours, put in only 44.3bn hours, or 1,773 per worker. Italians work 36.7bn hours (1,751 each) and the Spanish 26.6bn (1,842). The Germans ... total per worker - 1,831 hours - is less than the average Briton puts in. We have the longest average working day - eight hours 42 minutes - compared with seven hours 42 minutes in Italy. The UK has more workers per family (1.1), compared with Italy (1.04), Germany (1.03) and France (0.98). Only Spain has more (1.16), but the average Spanish household is unusually big, at 3.1 people, compared with 2.3 in the UK. The British also have fewer holidays. We work an average of 240 days a year - two full working weeks more than the Germans, 12 days ahead of the Italians, 13 days in front of the Spanish, and a staggering three weeks more than the French. The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), which conducted the survey, says the average British family works 7% more than the larger Spanish household, 22% longer than the average German family, 26% more than an Italian one and 32% more than the French. ... The British advantage is whittled away again by higher prices - our money has to go further. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development says prices in 2000 were 7% lower in France, 8% lower in Germany, 23% lower in Italy and 26% lower in Spain. these findings are echoed by the European Commission, which found that £1 would be worth 2p more in Germany, 4p more in France, 19p in Italy and 22p more in Spain. The Economist Big Mac Index shows that Italians pay 62p less for the burgers than we do, and the William M Mercer cost of living com parison for capital cities rates London as Europe's most expensive, 32 per cent dearer than second-placed Paris. ... Pensions UK state pensions are by far the lowest. A 1995 study by the International Monetary Fund found that while French pensioners could expect an average pension worth 60% of their final gross pay, Italians 54% and Germans 52%, in Britain the average was only 18%. Admittedly these figures are seven years old, but if anything the position for British pensioners has worsened since then. ... The Observer, Sunday 9 June 2002 (more ... at http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2002/jun/09/workandcareers.theobserver ---------------------------------------------- `Perceptions' note - Interest Rates Do usurers (rich moneylenders using `law' for profit) own UK's politics & politicians? Or, why are UK's interest rates double (100% higher than) those of Europe and the USA? Reason? - Because, as Buckle first deduced, interest rates tend to be inversely proportional to the amount of political (and geographical) freedom allowed by the ruling parasites who tend to be in control of most states. I.e - the 100% (plus) interest rates inflicted by India's apartheid state makes poor farmers into slaves - still ongoing www.perceptions.couk.com/talltales.html#menu1 Evolutionary data - and ancient laws - show that usurers degenerate over generations because they are parasitic and have no stake in a country or in the welfare of people. The "Bank of England" is a private organization dedicated to the profits of usurers. Privileged usurers, along with other rulers & elites, become incompetent, then ugly, then mentally deformed, and finally un-marriagable. Some details of the taboo at - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usury#cite_ref-7 and www.perceptions.couk.com/subindex.html#usury Physical deformities - see www.perceptions.couk.com/inbreeding.txt Moral deformities (pervs) - see www.perceptions.couk.com/genes5.html#Note and maybe check - www.perceptions.couk.com/genes2.html#aca www.perceptions.couk.com/evol.html#elite2 --- Results for the next generation? Feb 2007 UN report consolidates multiple investigations - the total finding is:- UK has most child poverty, one of lowest educational standards, lowest childrens' health, most unsafe children (through accidents / traffic), poorer family relations, least amount of `happiness' - of all western countries (and USA is next to bottom). www.perceptions.couk.com/sadukconfirmed.txt - details of that UN report; maybe www.perceptions.couk.com/cultques.html#flat - situation now, why politicians are lying when they claim to "want fairness"; and www.perceptions.couk.com/damned_lies.html - details of politicos' lying statistics. --- `Perceptions' note2 - the inefficiency & tax corruption now existing in Britain: www.perceptions.couk.com/agro-ind2.txt - for rich thieves www.perceptions.couk.com/reptiles.txt - for greed-crazed rulers www.perceptions.couk.com/fueltax.txt - for creepy czars and - how (prime) ministers can legally (+ illegally) lie about taxes www.perceptions.couk.com/taxone.html#liar --- quick survey of criminals (pervs and frauds) in UK politics is at www.perceptions.couk.com/#uk-crims (Front Page) --- Evidence page for : `Altruist Survivor' - www.perceptions.couk.com/genes1.html www.perceptions.couk.com/genes6.html `Deceitful media' - www.perceptions.couk.com/beeb2.html master-page - www.perceptions.couk.com/beebvbeeb.html `Law or Justice?' - www.perceptions.couk.com/laworjustice.html corrupt judiciary - www.perceptions.couk.com/nitwigs.txt Fake Charities - www.perceptions.couk.com/fakes.html - www.perceptions.couk.com/scam.txt - www.perceptions.couk.com/scam131.txt - details of parasitic `aristocrats' and other fake `charities'. --------------------------------------------- FURTHER REFERENCES GO - "search perceptions" - in SEARCH-ENGINE file-ID www.perceptions.couk.com/scam6.txt