In the spirit of keeping a global perspective in the Worldwide Success site, I am writing this article directly from Europe.  I will make some observations about success from a European perspective, and will contrast it to the American view of success.  First, I think it is fair to say that most European countries have stronger tendencies towards socialistic ideas than our free market views in the US.  I will try to point out the pluses and cons of such environment.  I will also discuss the day-to-day habits of the Europeans and the impact of their health and quality of life.

Let me start by making some comments about Holland where I have spent the first couple  of days of my trip.  Holland is a lovely country, with very efficient public transportation, clean streets and beautiful architecture.  One thing that I love about Holland is how they use bicycles as a main mode of transportation.  I wish other countries would take up their example.  The cities are laid out with bicycle lanes and there are bicycle stands where you can store and lock your bike throughout the city.  Think about all the benefits of using a bicycle as a main mode of transportation.  First of all, it’s a great form of exercise.  You rarely see any overweight people in Holland.  Their healthcare costs must be much lower than the US.  Additionally, bikes are very cheap to own and operate.  They generate no pollution and help keep the environment clean.  This is a truly efficient mode of transportation that has been fully embraced by the Dutch and should be used more often across the globe.

However, as we all know, it is not always possible to use a bicycle, especially when you have a long commute.  And even though Holland’s public transportation systems are excellent, in some situations you must use a car.  And that is an area where the Dutch don’t do so well.  First of all, gasoline is very expensive. At least three times as much as in the US.  Second, they must pay outrageous taxes to drive a car.  I am told it costs about $500 a month in taxes to drive a regular sedan.  Since we are talking about taxes, this is another area where the Dutch do not do very well.  The top income tax rate is more than 50%.  In return, the Dutch have a good social security system and much less inequality than you might find in the US.

Being a free-market believer, I am not a big fan of heavy taxes.  It discourages entrepreneurship and encourages reliance on social welfare.  The Dutch face significant challenges with immigration and the country is a magnet for people that are looking for an easy life where the government takes care of everything for you.  This is paid for with very heavy taxation on the part of society that is productive.  Despite of all these challenges, the Dutch seem to have achieved a healthy balance in their economy.  The population that is productive is well educated, multi-lingual, and efficient.

The great thing about Europe is that with a short trip you can go one from one country, culture, language and economy to another.   After Rotterdam I went to London, which is one of the financial capitals of the world.  London, like many other great European cities, is a wonderful place, full of history and culture.  It is also a place of consumption and a bastion of capitalism.   Regency Street is the shopping Mecca of London, and the streets are so crowded on a Saturday afternoon that you can barely move.  Christmas lights are already up and you can start to feel the Holiday spirit and its associated shopping excitement even though it is still mid-November.  In the Mayfair district you can get a taste for all the great things that money can buy.  The streets are filled with Porches and BMWs, cashmere sweaters are on sale for $500, and you can get a Rolex for anywhere in between $4,000 and $20,000.   The Ritz looks splendid, as the high society enjoys a cup of tea in the fancy tea room.  Capitalism is at its full throttle here.

Royalty and social classes are an intrinsic part of British culture.   This seems to be a key difference from the United States, where the idea of a social class, if any, is only defined by how much money you have in the bank.  Success in the UK is more exclusive to those that belong to a certain line of heritage, at least from the perspective that success is defined by where you stand in the social strata.  Old money seems to have a lot more influence in people’s financial standing here then you would find in the US.

Unlike the Dutch who bike to work everyday, stay in shape, and seem to live an overall healthy lifestyle, the British don’t score as well on the healthy lifestyle aspect of success, as a large portion of the population still maintains the old unhealthy habit of smoking.  You can hardly find a public location in London where you can enjoy a smoke-free experience, so even if you don’t smoke, you are being impacted by the unhealthy habit of others just by being around them.  I think I may have cut a couple of years out of my life just by being in London for the weekend.  This is an area where the British are still far behind Americans.  They should pay more attention to the impact of smoking in people’s quality of life and the associated healthcare cost that they must incur due to this widely accepted unhealthy habit.

On the positive side, health clubs are a spreading everywhere in the UK, with LA Fitness and Fitness First having the lion’s share of the market.  Virgin, Richard Branson’s mega company, is also coming into the market aggressively to take advantage of this growing trend in the UK.

One area of the British economy that is behaving very similarly to the US is the residential real estate market.  House prices have had tremendous growth in the last few years, but as interest rates started going up, the market has cooled off.  Many people who used adjustable rate mortgages are starting to feel the pinch as their monthly mortgage payments go up.  This could pose a real danger to the economy, as consumers stop spending and the central bank in unable to lower interest rates due to inflationary pressures.

Even though house prices have gone up considerably in the US in the last few years, Americans should feel good about the fact that housing in the US is still considerably cheaper than in most parts of Europe.  Land in Europe, especially around the big cities, is extremely expensive because there is no more space to build, and demand continues to be high.  In London, for example, there is high demand for residences, even though anything of a decent size will cost you over $1million.  This is proof that everything is relative, and what looks very expensive to you can be very reasonable in another part of the world.

The rest of the trip will take me to Germany and Spain.  I will then conclude this two part series of success from a European perspective.