3 ms·

"EU welfare state" is a meme that doesn't survive looking closely at the actual figures. Especially if you compare things like state pensions properly; the US m

by pjc50 9mo ago

"EU welfare state" is a meme that doesn't survive looking closely at the actual figures. Especially if you compare things like state pensions properly; the US moves these into a different column labelled "social security", but that doesn't mean they're not part of the state! Note that the alternative is sending money overseas to rent US infrastructure. It may make a lot of sense to deploy spending locally where it stays in the economy rather than overseas, a standard "import substitution" play.

amarcheschi 9mo ago
Plus, us already spends much more on healthcare per capita than other countries https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/health-spending-u-s-compare-countries/#GDP%20per%20capita%20and%20health%20consumption%20spending%20per%20capita,%20U.S.%20dollars,%202023%20(current%20prices%20and%20PPP%20adjusted)%C2%A0 https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/health-...
- overfeed 9mo ago
  > Plus, [USA] already spends much more... but the US is somehow simultaneously less of a welfare/nanny state. I suppose that is a tell: it's not about the actual monetary amounts, but about the national priorities posture and political alignment.
- realusername 9mo ago
  And that's only going to increase as the boomer generation is going to need more and more healthcare.
celeritascelery 9mo ago
While the EU welfare is not that much larger than the US (maybe 5% more of GDP), the US also has much more money, a larger portion of the population working, and higher population growth. They also have the technical and business knowledge in tech that the EU lacks (e.g. silicon, rocketry, hyperscalers, etc).
- jonkoops 9mo ago
  It also has an ever-increasing amount of debt and an aging population, e.g. the US is expected to spend more than $1 trillion a year on the interest on the debt itself, or $7,800 per household per year.
  - sajithdilshan 9mo ago
    from where did you get that number? What is the source?
    - ragazzina 9mo ago
      https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=ViPH https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=ViPH https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_of_the_United_States#Interest_and_debt_service_costs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_of_the_United_St...
pirate787 9mo ago
Import substitution has failed consistently as an economic strategy.
- overfeed 9mo ago
  I call bullshit. China's software industry boomed when they blocked/hobbled western big tech companies that would have strangled them. Slater kicked of America's textile industrialization. Every country that I know that has implemented a quota system in the arts has resulted in the domestic industry blossoming and getting over the self-sustaining hump. It is self-evident that limiting competition is beneficial to the protected parties.

by pjc50 9mo ago

amarcheschi 9mo ago

Plus, us already spends much more on healthcare per capita than other countries https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/health-spending-u-s-compare-countries/#GDP%20per%20capita%20and%20health%20consumption%20spending%20per%20capita,%20U.S.%20dollars,%202023%20(current%20prices%20and%20PPP%20adjusted)%C2%A0 https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/health-...

overfeed 9mo ago
> Plus, [USA] already spends much more... but the US is somehow simultaneously less of a welfare/nanny state. I suppose that is a tell: it's not about the actual monetary amounts, but about the national priorities posture and political alignment.
realusername 9mo ago
And that's only going to increase as the boomer generation is going to need more and more healthcare.

celeritascelery 9mo ago

While the EU welfare is not that much larger than the US (maybe 5% more of GDP), the US also has much more money, a larger portion of the population working, and higher population growth. They also have the technical and business knowledge in tech that the EU lacks (e.g. silicon, rocketry, hyperscalers, etc).

jonkoops 9mo ago
It also has an ever-increasing amount of debt and an aging population, e.g. the US is expected to spend more than $1 trillion a year on the interest on the debt itself, or $7,800 per household per year.
- sajithdilshan 9mo ago
  from where did you get that number? What is the source?
  - ragazzina 9mo ago
    https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=ViPH https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=ViPH https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_of_the_United_States#Interest_and_debt_service_costs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_of_the_United_St...

pirate787 9mo ago

Import substitution has failed consistently as an economic strategy.

overfeed 9mo ago
I call bullshit. China's software industry boomed when they blocked/hobbled western big tech companies that would have strangled them. Slater kicked of America's textile industrialization. Every country that I know that has implemented a quota system in the arts has resulted in the domestic industry blossoming and getting over the self-sustaining hump. It is self-evident that limiting competition is beneficial to the protected parties.