Trust as Essential Infrastructure

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So why not you Try Odoo for free at odoo. com That's O d oo. com I'm Scott Galloway and this is no Mercy, no malice. Americans have been taught to believe that billionaires and universal healthcare cannot coxist. P shit Europe. IRL as read by George Hans After roaming the earth for thirty five years, my conclusion is the US is the best place to make money and Europe is the best place to spend it Though Europe does have dynamic countries that the shit posting narrative regarding structural decline ignores liiving in the UK for the past four years and traveling around the continent I've observed two versions of Europe a stagnant welfare state limping toward insolvency exaggerated but true in places, and a dynamic fusion of capitalism full body contact violence in the market that unleashes innovation and opportunity with a meaningful social safety net real, but overlooked by Americans. Let's discard the fiction and talk about the Europe I've encountered in real life Last week, Elon Musk became the world's first trillionaire His wealth is greater than the combined fortunes of the next three men on the Bloomberg Billionairess indndex Larry Page, Serge Bryinn and Jeff Bezos Of the five hundred people on the list, one hundred and eighty are Americans or reside in the US The combined wealth is equivalent to that of the bottom fifty four percent of US households. In American politics, the interests of the few are framed in opposition to the interests of the many. We can have billionaires, we're told, or We can have universal healthcare, but we can't have both That's A false choice Swen among other countries settles the argument Billionaires and universal healthcare can coexist It's not capitalism versus socialism Capitalism actually works better when built on a foundation of empathy and equity Sweden is a contradiction. F one engine running inside a Volvo station wagon On the one hand, Senator Bernie Sanders praises its universal health carere system eleven percent of GDP spent on health care, life expectancy of eighty two point seven years, and outcomes on par with or better than those of other advanced economies On the other hand, while the EU stagnates, Sweden is projecting two percent GDP growth A recent analysis from Boston Consulting Group found that thirty percent of Swedish firms ranked in the top quartile of performance for their sectors, nearly double the performance of the best performing EU nation, the Netherlands The report cited three drivers of Swedish exceptionalism, culture of risk taking encouraged by worker mobility paired with strong unemployment benefits sustained government investment in R and D and deep capital markets As the economist wrote last year Stockholm is the new capital of capital Crucially, participation in Sweden's capital markets is widespread Thanks to the creation of ISK investment accounts, which simplify trading and eliminate capital gains taxes in favor of an annual standardized income tax Swedish households invest over half their savings in equities. moreore than twice the European average Although it has the population of North Carolina, Sweden has produced more than thirty unicorns including Erksson King Clarna. and Spotify With only two percent of the EU's population and three percent of its GDP, nearly one out of every five of Europe's best performing companies are Swedish Taiwan, which manufactures ninety seven percent of the world's high end chips and controls seventy two percent of the global foundry market is the choke pointint for AI and the digital economy the island nation is downstream of the Netherlands. NVidia designs the most advanced chips. TSMC manufactures them Both companies. along with the rest of the industry, depend on a single company. AS ML for the machines that make any of it possible ASML is the world's only producer of the extreme ultraviolet lithography machines used to manufacture the most advanced chips commands ninety percent of the broader lithography market this month ASML became Europe's most valuable company making the picks and shovels of AI Dutch economic leverage isn't an accident, but the result of government policies infrastructure and R and D investments highly skilled English speaking labor pool strong legal and regulatory frameworks and favorable tax regime make the Netherlands a digital economy hub as well as the gateway to Europe In terms of moving atoms, Rotterdam is Europe's busiest port. handling four hundred thirty eight million tons of cargo annually nearly double the capacity of Antwerp Europe's second largest port Advances in vertical farming seed technology and robotics have allowed the Netherlands in recent decades to have the resources that go into food production while doubling. the output. Last year, the country, the size of Maryland was the second largest agricultural exporter in the world by value. behind the U.S.. In terms of moving bits, the Netherlands is one of Europe's key connection points for global information technology infrastructure The country ranks second worldwide for online connectivity, with ninety eight percent of the population connected to high speed internet twenty points above the EU average of seventy eight percent twenty twenty five report from London's Center for Economics and Business Research that looked at education, STEM employment, and overall innovation across thirty five countries ranked the Netherlands tenth in global tech competitiveness ahead of every G seven nation and one spot behind Sweden The Dutch focus on digital infrastructure has put the country at ground zero for AI Outside of the U.S, the Netherlands has the most data centers per capita also making Amsterdam the go to EMEA headquarters for transnational companies, including Cisco, Netflix, Nike Pico Tk and Uber Just to name a few None of what makes the Netherlands great comes at the expense of its commitment to empathy and equity Dutch poverty rate is five percent Half the rate of the U.S. Unlike most EU nations, the Netherlands leverages a heavily regulated private insurance sector to cover its citizens Using a managed competition model, the Netherlands ranks third in healthcare globally based on public surveys evaluating medical quality, infrastructure, staff Wait times and costs takeaway If we followed the Netherlands We might cut our per capita healthcare spending in half improve outcomes and keep private insurance No system is perfect immigration housing crisis and political volatility are among the issues facing the Netherlands Sweden is trading its German style fiscal discipline for deficit spending in order to ramp up defense It also faces a potential housing bubble linked to high levels of private debt and has struggled to integrate immigrants Nevertheless The Swedes and Dutch remain committed to capitalism built on a foundation of empathy and equity. Whereas Americans are divided on fundamental questions in the U.S. The right. is cheering on crony capitalism and the hollowing out of the social safety net the left is embracing socialism. And as Joan Didon famously wrote, The center will not hold. This isn't a matter of policy the scarcity of one of society's most important assets Trust. Then Senator Barack Obama made this point in a two thousand six speech at the University of Nairobi, delivered as Kenya was in the throes of a constitutional crisis In the end People cannot trust their government to do the job for which it exists prrotect them and to promote their common welfare. All else is lost This is why the struggle against corruption is one of the great struggles of our time When I visited Stockholm last week, I spoke with the founder and leadership team at Spotify. They'd all lived in Silicon Valley, but each had returned. None of them shitpost about higher tax bills. But they told me they don't mind paying more as they trust their government to spend the money wisely I witnessed a similar attitude in the Netherlands Among the thirty eight OECD nations, Sweden ranks eighth when it comes to trust in the government. The Netherlands ranks nineteenth And the U.S is third from the bottom. Colombia and Slovakia Meanwhile when it comes to its citizens trusting one another. Sweden ranks fifth The Netherlands eighth and the U S nineteenth sandwiched between Northern Ireland and Hong Kong America has the parts to build a car that combines capitalism's horsepower with a welfare state's seatbelts and airbags We just don't trust each other enough to ride in it together After Stockholm, I visited Amsterdam for the wedding of my childhood best friend's son I'm now that age I arrived early and stayed late Amsterdam is a singular city Prosperous, beautiful, weird Tolerance connective tissue between personal freedom and social order It's also a city that reminds residents and visitors with every step they take that democracy is fragile Hundreds of brass plated stumbling stones mark the homes of Amsterdam's Holocaust victims The Netherlands wasn't especially antis Semitic, but after the Nazi occupation, it became a kill zone for Jews. seventy five percent of Dutch Jews were murdered during World War two. nearly double the rate in Belgium and triple the rate in France takeway in here It can happen anywhere Whenever I return to America, I get Weimar Republic vibes. The demonization of immigrants and hollowing out of institutions The demagogue vilifying Americans as the enemy within with rhetoric inspiring violence, while decent people refuse to condemn it weaponization of the legal system K shaped economy where incumbents always win and everyone else, especially young people falls behind The question isn't why trust in America is eroding. But where the absence of trust is leading us Answer Somewhere dark Trust is infrastructure. invisible until it fails caausing a catastrophe Sweden and the Netherlands keep reinforcing theirs We ignore the cracks, believing our exceptionalism exempts us from history's stumbling stones I don't drink wine or buy art as it feels disingenuous m trying to be something I'm not I do, however haveave a photograph I spent real money on. It's a photo of Otto Frank. returning to the Amsterdam attic, where he and his family hid until they were betrayed. hisis wife and daughters ultimately murdered It hangs outside my bedroom door So it's the first and last thing I see each day It reminds me that I have inconveniences, but no real problems. I worry that Americans declining empathy for one another will turn inconveniences into real problems life is so rich We've all been there. You pop into the shop for five minutes and all of a sudden you've forgten where you park Car Four Unfortunately, that lost feeling is what it's like trying to manage your policy with other insurers Here C, come out, come out wherever you are. please. With GIco, you can use the app to easily manage all your policies in one place Did this parking lot have a waterfall? I think you've wandered too far, mate. It feels good to find what you're looking for. It feels good to Gaico