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PPP adjusting makes sense when you compare countries in similar stages of development. As an example, Switzerland (in which I used to live) has a GDP per capita

by bwanab 9y ago

PPP adjusting makes sense when you compare countries in similar stages of development. As an example, Switzerland (in which I used to live) has a GDP per capita of $79,292 according to IMF. The US (where I live) has $57,436. Do people in Switzerland really live that much better than Americans? Not really - and certainly not the almost %40 better those numbers imply. Everyday stuff costs almost double in Switzerland than the US. As a PPP adjusted GDP, $59,561 for Switzerland looks about right to me.

lostlogin 9y ago
I don’t know either country well, but a quick read suggests Switzerland offers far more to those who have little - social welfare, healthcare, education and support etc. Is it possible that this gets hidden with the PPP? I know GDP per person doesn’t show it either, but seeing the huge difference between the two immediately got me looking for what goes on there.
- majormajor 9y ago
  Isn't the trick with Switzerland that citizens have a LOT more benefits than non-citizens, but a lot of the overall population (25%) is non-citizen? (California, the most foreign-heavy US state, is about half that, IIRC, and the US overall around 7%.) I'd be wondering about potential gaps hidden in there. Healthcare, though, is interesting in Switzerland for other reasons. Switzerland is a generally wealthy country that generally spends a lot on health care in a rather private manner, similar to the US in many ways. But the US system is a mess of corruption, bloated government and corporate programs, and inefficiencies. Switzerland is what a sensible free-market attempt to remake the US insurance markets might look like, instead of the "healthy people just shouldn't have to buy insurance" nonsense dogma of the current American right. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Switzerland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Switzerland "The whole healthcare system is geared toward the general goals of keeping the system competitive across cantonal lines, promoting general public health and reducing costs while encouraging individual responsibility." They seem to get the same best parts of the US system (short wait times (if you choose the right places here), up-to-date treatment options, flexibility of making your own financial priority choices around different procedures, without a bunch of our downsides.
thriftwy 9y ago
> Do people in Switzerland really live that much better than Americans? I actually expect the answer to be a resounding "yes", especially for people away from coasts. Switzerland doesn't even have coasts and it's pleasant to all its citizens!
- BryanBigs 9y ago
  Oh yes. Those poor folks in flyover country. Why, they can live in homes - the poor bastards. Maybe they are even forced to live on a lake, or God-forbid near a mountain. The horror! You need to get out more, my man
  - thriftwy 9y ago
    I'm pretty sure that Switzerland has a considerable amount of homes, lakes, mountains and all that. I also think it has much smaller occurrence of people on welfare selling and buying coke, drive-by shootings, rusty factories and young-earth theorists in schools. Much much smaller occurrence. Of all that kinds of stuff. I mean, no. That fancy restaurant is really "almost twice" as good as your McDrive. The latter does have its uses, but it's laughable to compare. It's Swiss for god's sake.
    - pardoner 9y ago
      smaller occurrence of people on welfare selling and buying coke, drive-by shootings, rusty factories and young-earth theorists in schools Woah, woah, woah, better watch out for the class warfare and racism cards. You’re on thin ice, my friend.
      - thriftwy 9y ago
        Switzerland just has peace treaty instead of class warfare, that's why it is better.

by bwanab 9y ago

lostlogin 9y ago

I don’t know either country well, but a quick read suggests Switzerland offers far more to those who have little - social welfare, healthcare, education and support etc. Is it possible that this gets hidden with the PPP? I know GDP per person doesn’t show it either, but seeing the huge difference between the two immediately got me looking for what goes on there.

majormajor 9y ago
Isn't the trick with Switzerland that citizens have a LOT more benefits than non-citizens, but a lot of the overall population (25%) is non-citizen? (California, the most foreign-heavy US state, is about half that, IIRC, and the US overall around 7%.) I'd be wondering about potential gaps hidden in there. Healthcare, though, is interesting in Switzerland for other reasons. Switzerland is a generally wealthy country that generally spends a lot on health care in a rather private manner, similar to the US in many ways. But the US system is a mess of corruption, bloated government and corporate programs, and inefficiencies. Switzerland is what a sensible free-market attempt to remake the US insurance markets might look like, instead of the "healthy people just shouldn't have to buy insurance" nonsense dogma of the current American right. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Switzerland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Switzerland "The whole healthcare system is geared toward the general goals of keeping the system competitive across cantonal lines, promoting general public health and reducing costs while encouraging individual responsibility." They seem to get the same best parts of the US system (short wait times (if you choose the right places here), up-to-date treatment options, flexibility of making your own financial priority choices around different procedures, without a bunch of our downsides.

thriftwy 9y ago

> Do people in Switzerland really live that much better than Americans? I actually expect the answer to be a resounding "yes", especially for people away from coasts. Switzerland doesn't even have coasts and it's pleasant to all its citizens!

BryanBigs 9y ago
Oh yes. Those poor folks in flyover country. Why, they can live in homes - the poor bastards. Maybe they are even forced to live on a lake, or God-forbid near a mountain. The horror! You need to get out more, my man
- thriftwy 9y ago
  I'm pretty sure that Switzerland has a considerable amount of homes, lakes, mountains and all that. I also think it has much smaller occurrence of people on welfare selling and buying coke, drive-by shootings, rusty factories and young-earth theorists in schools. Much much smaller occurrence. Of all that kinds of stuff. I mean, no. That fancy restaurant is really "almost twice" as good as your McDrive. The latter does have its uses, but it's laughable to compare. It's Swiss for god's sake.
  - pardoner 9y ago
    smaller occurrence of people on welfare selling and buying coke, drive-by shootings, rusty factories and young-earth theorists in schools Woah, woah, woah, better watch out for the class warfare and racism cards. You’re on thin ice, my friend.
    - thriftwy 9y ago
      Switzerland just has peace treaty instead of class warfare, that's why it is better.