Sweden aims for oil-free economy

[Utopial]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4694152.stm

Sweden says it aims to completely wean itself off oil within 15 years - without building new nuclear plants.

The attempt is being planned by a committee of industrialists, academics, car manufacturers, farmers and others.

The country aims to replace all fossil fuels with renewables before climate change damages economies and growing oil scarcity leads to price rises.

USA makes up bs about doing stuff like this but never intends to. Same recycled bs talked about for yrs.

As Ive said before, the USA should look to Scandinavian countries for inspiration on how to run a country (last time i said this i got some arrogant bigoted remarks so ill either expect the same or expect to be ignored):

http://www.vexen.co.uk/countries/best.html

Compiling relevant statistics and constructing rankings, I've arrived at a shortlist of five countries that beat all the others. Mainly, it is Sweden, Finland and Norway. Secondly, Switzerland and Australia. Be the best!

[DW Simpson]

http://www.actuarialoutpost.com/actu...&highlight=oil

[Jack]

http://www.swedishbikiniteam.com/

What beer had them in their ads? Was it Meister Brua?

[Jack]

To follow up it was Old Milwaukee.

It'd be nice to have a functional socialist society as they exist in Scandanavia, but I don't think Americans would ever accept a 50%+ tax rate.

[DW Simpson]

Originally Posted by Titania

It'd be nice to have a functional socialist society as they exist in Scandanavia, but I don't think Americans would ever accept a 50%+ tax rate.

Yeah, this one cracks me up --

http://www.worldwide-tax.com/finland/finland_tax.asp

The combined top marginal tax rate in Finland is about 57%

[DW Simpson]

Originally Posted by Utopial

As Ive said before, the USA should look to Scandinavian countries for inspiration on how to run a country

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1759791.stm

Monday, 14 January, 2002, 14:29 GMT
Nokia boss gets record speeding fine


Mr Vanjoki: Appealing against fine of 14 days' income

A director of the Finnish telecommunications giant, Nokia, has received what is believed to be the most expensive speeding ticket ever.

Anssi Vanjoki, 44, has been ordered to pay a fine of 116,000 euros ($103,600) after being caught breaking the speed limit on his Harley Davidson motorbike in the capital, Helsinki, in October last year.

Mr Vanjoki is a Harley Davidson enthusiast

Police say he was driving at 75 km/h (47 mph) in a 50km/h (31 mph) zone.

In Finland, traffic fines are proportionate to the latest available data on an offender's income.

Mr Vanjoki has announced he will appeal, because his income has since dropped.

Share-price slump

Mr Vanjoki had to pay a fine equal to 14 days of his income in 1999, which was about 14 million euros ($12.5 million).

Nokia president Pekka Ala-Pietila racked up fine of just 35,000 euros

His income had been boosted by large share options, which he cashed in at end of the year.

But a newer set of figures - this time without the share options - was published only five days after the incident, and would have resulted in a considerably lower fine.

Mr Vanjoki's income fell sharply last year as Nokia's share price plummeted, along with other tech shares, making option sales uneconomical.

His fine beats an earlier speeding penalty of 80,000 euros handed down to internet millionaire Jaakko Rytsola.

Mr Vanjoki's colleague, Nokia president Pekka Ala-Pietila, was once fined the far lower figure of 35,000 euros.

The appeal will be heard on 15 May.

[DW Simpson]

Yep, I'm aware of that study, and I expected that you would quote it.

Regardless of the reasons for corruption, it's there, and the less services that are touched by it, the better for me.

Thank you for making my point for me.

[Werewolf]

If you're comparing yourself to Finland, you may want to account for the higher cost of living, like houses in Helsinki being four times as costly.

I suspect there's a lot of universal welfare benefits (beyond health coverage) and subsidies, else I don't see how a family can live there.

[cubedbee]

Originally Posted by Werewolf

If you're comparing yourself to Finland, you may want to account for the higher cost of living, like houses in Helsinki being four times as costly.

I suspect there's a lot of universal welfare benefits (beyond health coverage) and subsidies, else I don't see how a family can live there.

This country boy used to think that NYC was so expensive that nobody could possibly live there. Of course, that proved to be wrong. And since NYC is more expensive than Helsinki, I'm betting you're wrong too.

http://www.citymayors.com/features/cost_survey.html