Finland Abolishes All Tax Record Privacy
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Computer Hacker #1: "Hey look, this vice president makes twice as much as that vice president. I bet they don't know that!"
Computer Hacker #2: "They do now -- I just emailed the entire company!"
--An old IBM commercial
Certain noisy socialists love to remind us that the Scandinavian nations supposedly have a "higher standard of living" than the U.S.
Of course, such calculations do not include factors like this:
Of course, the next logical question, to the extent logic plays any role here, is why should tax records be public information but not library records, or medical records, or report cards, or credit card statements, or grocery lists, or Netflix queues, etc.
If this is what a nation with a "higher standard of living" considers an appropriate privacy policy, then I'd prefer poverty.
(Click to enlarge.)
Computer Hacker #2: "They do now -- I just emailed the entire company!"
--An old IBM commercial
Certain noisy socialists love to remind us that the Scandinavian nations supposedly have a "higher standard of living" than the U.S.
Of course, such calculations do not include factors like this:
Care to find out what your neighbor earned last year, or how much your partner really has stashed in the bank? In Finland you can -- and a lot of people did Wednesday.Words escape me.
Every November when the Nordic nation's tax records of the previous year become public, Finns indulge on a massive scale in satisfying their curiosity about each other's finances.
Newspapers were crammed with lists of the wealthiest and highest-earning men and women in 2004.
Veroporssi, a private firm which offers income details on everyone in Finland via mobile text message, said it was its busiest day of the year and had no time to comment.
Of course, the next logical question, to the extent logic plays any role here, is why should tax records be public information but not library records, or medical records, or report cards, or credit card statements, or grocery lists, or Netflix queues, etc.
If this is what a nation with a "higher standard of living" considers an appropriate privacy policy, then I'd prefer poverty.
(Click to enlarge.)
Related Posts (on one page):
- Scorched Payroll Policy?
- "We'd Like to Know A Little Bit About [Your Co-Op] For Our Files..."
- Finland Abolishes All Tax Record Privacy
Posted by Kip on
3 November 2005
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