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Huh? Among OECD countries, the USA is tops in Household disposable income[0] (which, yes, factors in social benefits like health care) and Household Net worth[1

Huh? Among OECD countries, the USA is tops in Household disposable income[0] (which, yes, factors in social benefits like health care) and Household Net worth[1], while being about average in (relative) Household debt[2]. Relative to the vast majority of westerners, the Average American is absolutely killing it. It's a shame that so much rhetorical energy is expended in a constant attempt to gaslight Americans about their financial situation in comparison to the Europeans. The reality is that the average American makes almost 50% more than the average EU resident[0]. [0] https://data.oecd.org/hha/household-disposable-income.htm#indicator-chart https://data.oecd.org/hha/household-disposable-income.htm#in... [1] https://data.oecd.org/hha/household-net-worth.htm#indicator-chart https://data.oecd.org/hha/household-net-worth.htm#indicator-... [2] https://data.oecd.org/hha/household-debt.htm#indicator-chart https://data.oecd.org/hha/household-debt.htm#indicator-chart

runako 6y ago
You're not disagreeing with my comment? Yes, America is very rich and a lot of Americans do well. But since you posted these links, it's fair to note that they don't rebut some of the common critiques of American wealth: - the OECD wealth figures apply to the average, not median, American. Our wealth is very unevenly distributed, so our average is not a good measure. (Also the $182k figure in the OECD doc is nearly double the $104k US Census counted[1].) - as widely documented elsewhere, American finances are much more precarious due to the design of our labor markets, social safety net, and (especially) healthcare system. Americans in general have more of their financial security at risk at all times than EU residents. And we have to save for more big expenses (like college) than residents of other countries. So having more wealth does not directly translate into more financial security. 1 - https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2017/demo/wealth/wealth-asset-ownership.html https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2017/demo/wealth/wealth-a...

runako 6y ago

You're not disagreeing with my comment? Yes, America is very rich and a lot of Americans do well. But since you posted these links, it's fair to note that they don't rebut some of the common critiques of American wealth: - the OECD wealth figures apply to the average, not median, American. Our wealth is very unevenly distributed, so our average is not a good measure. (Also the $182k figure in the OECD doc is nearly double the $104k US Census counted[1].) - as widely documented elsewhere, American finances are much more precarious due to the design of our labor markets, social safety net, and (especially) healthcare system. Americans in general have more of their financial security at risk at all times than EU residents. And we have to save for more big expenses (like college) than residents of other countries. So having more wealth does not directly translate into more financial security. 1 - https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2017/demo/wealth/wealth-asset-ownership.html https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2017/demo/wealth/wealth-a...