[ChicagoHebrew]

It used to be socialist. It now has a mixed economy, somewhat similar to Italy's: basically capitalist, but with absurdly powerful unions that love to strike and f'k things up, high taxes, universal health care. It's certainly not a "conservative" country.

That being said, the recession here has boosted American aliyah. There are many American Jews, like myself, who would like to move to Israel, but can't quite take the hit in standard of living. With the recession, Israel doesn't look so bad economically, especially for families with large numbers of kids. A religious family with 4 kids could easily spend $50-60k on Jewish school tuition here. in Israel, Jewish school is free.

[dljordan]

” That being said, the recession here has boosted American aliyah. There are many American Jews, like myself, who would like to move to Israel, but can’t quite take the hit in standard of living.”

Picking up and moving your entire household overseas is a BIG thing.