Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mervsdamun]

I'm no Economics major so I need some help.

I have lived in Korea foe a few years, and I have spent the same number of years in NZ.

Both countries have been a bit of a culture shock to me. Given where I am from, I thought New Zealand would be easier to adjust to, but remarkably, I found it easier in Korea.

Anyway, my questions is this:

The GDP per capita indicates that (very roughly) NZ is at the same level as South Korea. Yet while NZ has beautiful outdoors and certain advantages you cannot but a price on (hence not part of GDP), it is economically vastly behind South Korea.

I don't get it how the GDP per capita can be the same when bus drivers in Korea make more than some professional groups in NZ. and it's not like cost of living in NZ is cheaper... grocery bills are the same for me in both countries.

not to mention the NZ tax rate.

So how come NZ and Korea are ranked equal? What is that NZ produces that is so much more valuable than the things that go into Korean GDP?

Does this have anything to do that for vast majority of NZ families, they could not survive without two bread winners, while in Korea, often (still) one will do?

[mayorgc]

when you say vastly behind in economic terms, what do you mean exactly? i've never been to nz, so i dont know what you're talking about

[AgentM]

[MissSeoul]

[Cheonmunka]

I sometimes say that NZ is a rich country with poor people, Korea is a poor country with rich people.
I say NZ is poor because if it weren't for social welfare at least 6% of its people would be living in abject poverty.
Korea invests much more in manufacturing and industry and it pumps 24 hours and people scringe and scrape a job, and the unions help them, whereas when jobs dry up in NZ's agriculture, value added products and tourism, people turn to social welfare.
NZ collects around 30-40+% (GST remember) taxes from working individuals whereas Korea taxes around 10% on the family household declared income. For families on less than 2.5 million won or so a month the tax is basically nil.* The low tax gives people more money in their pockets, yet doesn't boost national savings.

I know of no families around me at present (a normal working-class urban neighborhood) where both husband and wife must work in order to pay the mortgage. My wife's friends do work, part time from home (and under the table) but they don't have to.
*About the tax and social welfare thing, my own children here get subsidies for schooling, for doctors, for swimming lessons .. it costed nothing for me to send them to private kindergarten ... it all came/comes back thru tax rebates and refunds. If a family is on the lower end they can still manage it.

I think NZ is a poor house. It's a beautiful poor house. If you have the money to run a car (buses are costly, too) so you can travel out of the cities it's beautiful. But without the jobs (unemployment is rising rapidly in NZ this year) and without social welfare there would be a lot of poor people.

[Teelo]

*beep* off, NZ is full.

[pkang0202]

GDP is a poor measure of a country's economy.

I think GNP is a better measure, especially in today's global economy where corporations expand across many borders.

[iammac2002]

[asylum seeker]

New Zealand has almost no manufacturing industry but we do export a huge amount of agricultural products and the tourism industry is pretty big. There are some very rich farmers around.
I don't think wages are that much lower in NZ, it's just that taxes are set way too high in order to support all the dole bludgers. If the government lowered taxes on working people and put a time limit on the dole that would help our living standards (for working people anyway) a lot.
Anyway if you factor in all the extra money Korean parents end up having to pay for hagwons and expensive kindergartens it's probably still marginally cheaper to raise a kid in NZ.

[CA-NA-DA-ABC]

[OneWayTraffic]

[Summer Wine]

Technically, NZer's don't own NZ.

They are renting the place from all the wealthy foreign Companies that own it.

Wealthy foreign companies don't need bad press.

Plus the current government of NZ has plans to further sell what is still in NZ's hands. I don't mean to Kiwi's either. What is the one country looming large with plenty of liquid capital?

Yeah, the strategic value businesses (capital value) of the country are not considered worth keeping and will be sold to the highest bidder.

Personally, the Kiwi Government/ opposition should just take a nice long swim south and leave the country to those who care about it.

[AgentM]

[Cheonmunka]

^ Good point because you do get more personal care in a NZ hospital for example. That is, it's not like the quick in and out as it is here and the patients all lying down in a row and the doc goes from one to the next.

[Teelo]

And when theres no such thing as a sound proofed wall/window.