Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the waves. Well, it used to, now it seems like we’re universally disliked by the rest of the world and our economy is slowly grinding to a halt. The rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer. Right wing divs are on the rise and my bins are only collected when they fancy it. The NHS is under fire from Cameron and his well oiled gash machine. Oh yeah, and it’s always bloody raining.
That said, life is full of ups and downs and I’m sure things will sort themselves out eventually. Sometimes, when you’re feeling at a low ebb, it’s a good idea to look at how other countries do things and see if we can learn a trick or two. Historically the UK doesn’t like playing with the other kids: no we won’t have the Euro, yes we will drive on the left. But we’re not exactly winning at the moment so why not have a look about and see if we can get some tips?
Below are a few ideas from other countries that seem pretty awesome, in all honesty there are problems with each one, but there’s something in the essence of them that I like:
(Click the arrows below to navigate through the slides.)
1) Tax Breaks At Christmas
Image VIA
Everyone in the world (that isn’t loaded) gets screwed over at Christmas time. You have to buy presents for butt loads of people and probably get the train somewhere far away and then eat and drink everything you can, none of which is cheap. In Norway the government has noticed this annual problem and done something rather wonderful about it.
In November the incredible Norwegian government only take half the normal amount of tax giving their citizens that little extra cushion of cash. Isn’t that nice?
