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It would help your argument to get your facts right. The only OECD countries ahead of the US in GDP per capita are Luxembourg, Norway and Switzerland. Canada's
by bwanab 14y ago
It would help your argument to get your facts right. The only OECD countries ahead of the US in GDP per capita are Luxembourg, Norway and Switzerland. Canada's is about 85% of the US (source http://stats.oecd.org/ http://stats.oecd.org/). It's true that many things go unchallenged by most Americans and there's no question to this American that we don't do everything right, but facts need to be respected.
Edit: these are purchasing power parity numbers.
- wisty 14y agoI used nominal GDP. Obviously, if you have a few billionaires and a lot of peasants the GDP PPP will be high. You'll have a low cost of living (due to low labor costs, and plenty of supply), and a high average GDP (due to the billionaire). Median GDP (PPP or otherwise) won't be so great, though. I'm not saying the US sucks, just that once you stop looking at aggregate GDP you actually have to start thinking.
- mertd 14y agoI don't quite get it. Why should we pretend Warren Buffett et al. don't exist in this context? If these billionaires are a part of the US economy, they contribute to its strength.
- stcredzero 14y agoIn some sense, many billionaires stop being a citizen of their home country and become a "citizen of the world." This also goes for multinational corporations. Warren Buffett is a notable exception to this, however, being "bullish on America."
- wisty 14y ago> If these billionaires are a part of the US economy, they contribute to its strength. If you are interested in aggregate GDP, then yes, billionaires contribute to the country's strength. If you care about the average person, then no. The US won't care about aggregate GDP so much once they aren't number 1.
- bwanab 14y agoI agree with you entirely that if you're trying to measure how well off the majority of Americans as opposed to, say, Swiss, you should look at median income statistics as a much better measure. However, well-off-ness isn't what GDP per capita (PPP or otherwise) is trying to measure. On a side note the best measure of income inequality is the GINI index. The US GINI index is an abysmal 45, contrasted to 33.7 for Switzerland. But, China's is 48 which is staggeringly high for a nominally socialist country.
- vorg 14y ago> remember Bobby Kennedy (or his speechwriter): "The Gross National Product includes air pollution and advertising for cigarettes, and ambulance to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors, and jails for the people who break them. GNP includes the destruction of the redwoods and the death of Lake Superior. It grows with the production of napalm and missiles and nuclear warheads... And if GNP includes all this, there is much that it does not comprehend. It does not allow for the health of our families, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It is indifferent to the decency of our factories and the safety of our streets alike. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, or the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials... GNP measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country. It measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile; and it can tell us everything about America - except whether we are proud to be Americans."
- bwanab 14y agoYour point is valid. This is why I (an American) generally prefer the social choices that have been made in Europe to those that have been made in the US.