Yes, China and the US, which are both substantially larger in population. Japan also outperforms most countries that outsize it in terms of population. >Beside

Yes, China and the US, which are both substantially larger in population. Japan also outperforms most countries that outsize it in terms of population. >Besides, it's super easy to avoid that GDP / population confusion by looking at GDP per capita. Not so much. A high GDP per capita is a poor measure of the average person's economic wellbeing on its own. Looking at it within the context of measures of economic inequality helps to mitigate the misconceptions that could otherwise arise. For example, according to this Wikipedia article and its cited sources [1], Japan's rich/poor 10% average income ratio is 4.5. Compare to America, whose 18.5 is much closer to China's 21.6, and far away from France's 9.1 and Germany's 6.9. What this means is that America's GDP per capita is substantially more affected by the high incomes of the highest earners than Japan's. In other words, the average American sees less of the benefits of that high GDP per capita than the average Japanese sees of their somewhat lower GDP per capita. That's just income. Japan's wealth GINI indicates substantially more equality in that regard than for America. [2] >At the end of 2019, real US wages (both median and average) were at new all-time highs, according to the Federal Reserve. I'd like to see that citation. It's well-known that most wages for Americans, indexed against GDP, have fallen or remained flat since the 70s. The vast majority of the income gains have accumulated in the hands of the upper 2 quintiles. This is especially troublesome for Americans as (re: the subject of this comment section) the housing situation in Japan differs greatly from America's skyrocketing housing values in major metro areas; medical insurance and care in America is substantially more expensive; and the cost and quality of education is higher and less stable, respectively, in America than in Japan. This is today, after our respective economic histories over the past few decades. What your numbers suggest is that Japan was very wealthy for a limited period of time and is now regressing towards the mean that would be suggested by their population size and level of development. However, the character of their economic and institutional policy is making this decline smoother and more comfortable than anything we're likely to see. I continue to hold that this is preferable. 1 - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_equality https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_... 2 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wealth_equality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wealth_eq...