Maybe, but she also pays Scandinavian level taxes. Just my 2 cent.
One thing is sure: he won’t be from the Middle East, your country included, or from the former Soviet Union, the Baltic countries perhaps excluded. Which I count as Scandinavian anyway.
Benjamin Netanyahu has a net worth of $13 million, about the same as Angela Merkel, which makes sense, as they were in office for about the same amount of time.
This really surprises me for Merkel, since you really can’t build a real fortune from the allowance for a German Chancellor alone. I guess that she gained most of her net worth after leaving the office, from book sales and lectures.
Yeah, Netanyahu also supposedly made most of his money during his 1999-2003 break from politics, when he starred on the international right-wing speaking circuit. Of course, lots of people suspect that a much of his money was acquired by less-than-kosher means; litigation is pending (and pending and pending).
Still, while he’s definitely a 1-percenter, he’s small fries compared to most other Middle Eastern leaders.
Then the 13 year duration of their tenures would not matter at all. I’ll leave it at that before this turns into a hijack.
While that’s true, it wouldn’t change the equation for the Irish case. Prime ministers (taoisigh) of Ireland are typically comfortable middle class, with the level of wealth and lifestyle corresponding to their ministerial salary.
What I think we are looking for is a country with a republican form of government and a low level of corruption, so that political influence does not translate into personal enrichment, and where candidates don’t have to be wealthy to win elections. Iceland seems like a good suggestion, as does Finland, and I would like to add Malta to the mix.
I wouldn’t be too optimistic about a “low level of corruption” in Malta:
Maybe the Pope?
MHO: The current leader of the free world is the poorest in quality of life, although he certainly doesn’t think so.
As for income and assets, in many cases that’s a lot more subjective than it looks on the surface.
Agree that, especially for folks semi-wealthy and above, it becomes real hard to objectively determine their numbers from publicly available sources.
Separately, having a net worth of e.g. USD 5M makes you comfy in the USA, but far short of fatcat. That same wealth in e.g. Honduras? You’re a fatcat.
Since we’re making worldwide comparisons of assets and income, it’s worth considering worldwide costs of living as well.
The current pope is a member of the Order of Saint Augustine, a monastic order, and so has a vow of poverty. Basic personal possessions aside, he doesn’t own anything at all. And, if he receives a salary (which, in his current position, I doubt he does) that is likely made over to the Order.
Keep in mind that former heads of state with a prominent profile can do quite well with lucrative appeaance and speaking fees. I vaguely recall that someone like Obama can command fees in the hundreds of thousands for one appearance (and obviously has his pick of events). Similarly, IIRC the senate has rules restricting sitting senators from collecting speech fees…
Right, former heads of state. Do it while in office, though, and anti-corruption laws generally kick in.
I’m actually very aware of that story, via colleagues who found themselves closer to it than they might have wished.
What made me think of Malta was, when I was a teenager in the mid-1980s I was in Malta with my family and we stayed right beside the presidential residence in Attard. There was a female president at the time and I would see her driving out the gate in a very ordinary car, no visible security or anything. I have no idea how wealthy she was though.
[Moderating]
The “MHO” you prefaced this with should have made it clear to you that this was not a Factual Questions answer. Unless you have some way of objectively quantifying quality of life, leave it out of this thread.
It is for some.
Academia is still not a path to riches. Those are people who left to follow some other path, and then got rich.