How are countries like Norway and Switzerland not so densely populated considering the fact that they are portrayed as nearly heaven in all aspects?
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I’m from Canada and in the mid-2000s, some Norwegians came over to study.
They immediately bought the flashiest cars they could afford at the time (mid-2000s so Benz SLKs, etc) while in their early 20s because they said that it is the one time they can afford to get a car like that. I may have misremembered the actual amounts but they said that a Corvette or similar would be about the equivalent of $200k. They also partied a LOT, even compared to Canadian early-20s, and I realized why later.
I visited them in Oslo a few years later and when beer was about $7/pint in Canada, it was equiv of $17 in Oslo. I quickly realized that whatever it cost in Canada (Toronto area) at the time, it was 2.5x in the Oslo area. So they partied and went out all the time bc drinks and going out was less than half of what it cost in Norway, while they were making Norwegian pay (it was a subsidized study program).
They also said their income tax rate was phenomenal compared to Canada, which isn’t super high (depending on province) but generally higher than the US. So while they make a lot in theory, a lot of it goes to the higher cost of living and taxes.
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