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LetsGoBucsI love the raw spending across nationalities argument because it is such a crock of crap. You cannot compare the raw spending here with the raw spending in other countries unless you adjust for social differences reflected in how the costs are accounted for.
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I believe that the OECD does just that and thats one of its purposes and they do it for a number of areas. Since it is a multigovernment agency funded by member states I don't think it has much of a political axe to grind. I would freely admit I didn't go through the methodology used for their bi-yearly study.
While there are social differences that cuts both ways. Yes there are more unions across all industries in Europe, but they have also learned how to handle them better. In Europe, it is very difficult (and costly) to eliminate a group or location of workers - and I know this firsthand. But it is very easy to remove a low performer. Our teacher's union has made it virtually impossible to simply fire a poor teacher and they fight any efforts to put in place mechanisms to even identify poor teachers. I'm not a union hater, but the teacher's union is one that I have lost respect for over the years.