If you visit National Parks, you are a bad person

93Devil · Sep 6, 2013

playthrough said:

Kato said:

I visited two national parks last summer, Arches and Yosemite, and was struck by just how many foreign people I saw there -- couples, families, tour groups, etc. And what that made me think about was just how little vacation time Americans have to make trips like that or even how little information Americans have about the National Parks (as the above excerpt also alludes to). I knew nothing about Arches, really, until I was there.
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I have a side job in golf tourism and am so envious of how many furrners travel, especially Europeans. For most of us a two-week junket that includes 10 golf courses would be a trip of a lifetime; over there it's just another summer vacation.
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Maybe because their 1% does not grind the other 99% into the ground?

Armchair_QB · Sep 6, 2013

Yeah, that's what it is...

HC · Sep 6, 2013

I used to work for Dutch company that was expanding into Canada. The job included 4 weeks vacation which was paid. On top of that, I was given an extra month's pay at the start of my vacation because there was no point in giving me a vacation if I couldn't afford to do anything. He told me that this was standard.

Morris816 · Sep 6, 2013

Captain Obvious said:

Sell the national parks and open it up to oil and mining interest. Only a godless commie would want the government to operate parks.
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Well, we all remember it was Teddy Roosevelt who wanted national parks, and he also wanted the government to operate the mines in the "public interest" when the workers went on strike, and by gawd, that's government taking over private enterprise!

So, yeah, blame Teddy.

Captain Obvious · Sep 6, 2013

Armchair_QB said:

Yeah, that's what it is...
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What is it then?

The Big Ragu · Sep 6, 2013

HC said:

I used to work for Dutch company that was expanding into Canada. The job included 4 weeks vacation which was paid. On top of that, I was given an extra month's pay at the start of my vacation because there was no point in giving me a vacation if I couldn't afford to do anything. He told me that this was standard.
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So, they don't believe in going Dutch?

For what it is worth, the Dutch economy looks ugly, even by European (and world) standards. Those 4 weeks of manadatory paid leave from work with an allowance equal to 8 percent of your salary is required by law. ... It can't be helping the economy, which is Ugly with a capital U.

Their unemployment rate has been rising dramatically over the last year, and they have seen three periods of contracting GDP of two months or more since the financial crisis. And the country has been in a recession for at least the last year. It also has a huge debt problem -- not just government debt, which is out of control. They are facing a mortgage crisis -- and the the debt to household income ratio for the Dutch maybe the worst in the Western world (the average person owes 250 percent of their income).

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-02/rutte-says-netherlands-in-difficult-times-unemployment-to-rise.html

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100983494

http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2013/08/its_official_the_netherlands_h_1.php

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/29/business/netherlands-nation-under-water

LongTimeListener · Sep 6, 2013

Yeah but if it all goes belly-up, at least they get their sabbaticals in Amsterdam.

Armchair_QB · Sep 6, 2013

Captain Obvious said:

Armchair_QB said:

Yeah, that's what it is...
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What is it then?
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Not that.

YankeeFan · Sep 6, 2013

Is this something we should even worry about?

Some of it is just geography and economics, right?

This National Park and places like Acadia National Park in Maine are far from where large populations of African-Americans and Hispanics live.

While the parks themselves aren't super expensive, you need a car, and the time off to drive there.

Captain Obvious · Sep 6, 2013

I can take the bus to the nearest one for a $1.25. As for Ragu's post, you have to read the CNN article to the end.

But don't be fooled: the Netherlands' economic landscape may be flat but it's not entirely bleak. Besides, the Dutch have been here before.

While private sector debt may have been the country's undoing, sovereign bond investors have largely shrugged off the Netherlands' domestic woes -- giving the government breathing room on its borrowing costs.

Dutch industry is competitive and flexible. The workforce is highly educated and polyglot, with the entrepreneurial streak reminiscent of a nation of merchant traders.

In fact Holland and its neighboring counties have seen their fair share of boom and bust cycles.

Its bubble in the tulip trade is a lesson taught in business schools across the globe as an example of how to spot an overvalued asset class.

Just like those once precious bulbs, the Dutch economy will bloom again one day, though its flowers will appear later this cycle.

Mind you, they will last longer if the lessons have been learned.
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Baron Scicluna · Sep 6, 2013

The Big Ragu said:

HC said:

I used to work for Dutch company that was expanding into Canada. The job included 4 weeks vacation which was paid. On top of that, I was given an extra month's pay at the start of my vacation because there was no point in giving me a vacation if I couldn't afford to do anything. He told me that this was standard.
Click to expand...

So, they don't believe in going Dutch?

For what it is worth, the Dutch economy looks ugly, even by European (and world) standards. Those 4 weeks of manadatory paid leave from work with an allowance equal to 8 percent of your salary is required by law. ... It can't be helping the economy, which is Ugly with a capital U.

Their unemployment rate has been rising dramatically over the last year, and they have seen three periods of contracting GDP of two months or more since the financial crisis. And the country has been in a recession for at least the last year. It also has a huge debt problem -- not just government debt, which is out of control. They are facing a mortgage crisis -- and the the debt to household income ratio for the Dutch maybe the worst in the Western world (the average person owes 250 percent of their income).

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-02/rutte-says-netherlands-in-difficult-times-unemployment-to-rise.html

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100983494

http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2013/08/its_official_the_netherlands_h_1.php

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/29/business/netherlands-nation-under-water
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What does 4 weeks vacation time have to do with a debt problem that looks to have been caused mostly by a mortgage crisis?

The Big Ragu · Sep 6, 2013

When unemployment is spiking and your economy is contracting for a prolonged period of time, a law mandating that to be in business you have to pay people for four weeks not to work is a hindrance to jump starting economic activity.

In the aggregate, is that the reason business in the Netherlands is suffering? There are much bigger reasons. You could make a list of about a zillion factors that have contributed.

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If you visit National Parks, you are a bad person

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