4 ms·

This is all likely true, the claim was that Europe is far better at translating wealth into quality of life.

FredPret 3y ago
Not relevant. Even if Europeans are twice as good at turning a dollar into a smile (and how could anyone believe such nonsense), the middle-class American still has three times as much money. And either way, the problem to solve is creating the most overall wealth and well-being. Being better at a sub-problem (money->happiness efficiency ratio) is less important than overall effectiveness.
- eropple 3y ago
  "The middle-class American" is going to get bodied into penury if they get sick. A Dane will, generally speaking, not. I know I'd trade a very large portion of my very large salary for assurances that that wouldn't happen. I don't have the option, though.
- aceazzameen 3y ago
  Very relevant. Again, personal wealth does not equal quality of life. That's a very American thing, since the US lacks so many basic quality of life tenets that Europeans already have.
- bildung 3y ago
  You can't compare wealth as simplisticly as you imply, for a multitude of reasons, the top three being: * Wealth includes house ownership, but in many EU countries living in a rented apartment is normal and even preferred, mostly because strong regulatory protection of tenant's rights. As an example our family could easily afford owning a house in the suburbs but still lives for rent in the city, because quality of life is better here. * In the US, wealth includes savings for pension, whereas in many EU countries pensions are organized collectively, like an insurance. In other words most EU pension schemes are not visible in wealth statistics. * Same for healthcare. I know of noone in my social circle saving for eventual healthcare crises because that is cared for by health insurance.
  - ryanwaggoner 3y ago
    Higher education is also similar
- sologoub 3y ago
  You’d need to look at PPP for all goods and services and not just networth (paper networth). EU countries provide a lot of social based lines, like education, childcare and healthcare. Also there is a huge variability between EU countries - Swiss are quite wealthy for example.

Not relevant. Even if Europeans are twice as good at turning a dollar into a smile (and how could anyone believe such nonsense), the middle-class American still has three times as much money. And either way, the problem to solve is creating the most overall wealth and well-being. Being better at a sub-problem (money->happiness efficiency ratio) is less important than overall effectiveness.

eropple 3y ago
"The middle-class American" is going to get bodied into penury if they get sick. A Dane will, generally speaking, not. I know I'd trade a very large portion of my very large salary for assurances that that wouldn't happen. I don't have the option, though.
aceazzameen 3y ago
Very relevant. Again, personal wealth does not equal quality of life. That's a very American thing, since the US lacks so many basic quality of life tenets that Europeans already have.
bildung 3y ago
You can't compare wealth as simplisticly as you imply, for a multitude of reasons, the top three being: * Wealth includes house ownership, but in many EU countries living in a rented apartment is normal and even preferred, mostly because strong regulatory protection of tenant's rights. As an example our family could easily afford owning a house in the suburbs but still lives for rent in the city, because quality of life is better here. * In the US, wealth includes savings for pension, whereas in many EU countries pensions are organized collectively, like an insurance. In other words most EU pension schemes are not visible in wealth statistics. * Same for healthcare. I know of noone in my social circle saving for eventual healthcare crises because that is cared for by health insurance.
- ryanwaggoner 3y ago
  Higher education is also similar
sologoub 3y ago
You’d need to look at PPP for all goods and services and not just networth (paper networth). EU countries provide a lot of social based lines, like education, childcare and healthcare. Also there is a huge variability between EU countries - Swiss are quite wealthy for example.