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I think a lot of people must have obsessive-compulsive disorder. They have this mania for putting everything they can think of into sorted lists. What do they do when they've got them? Nothing!
Keep taking the tablets, folks.
I think they can be silly as well.
But it's worth saying that many of these rankings and studies are used by retail investors, hedge funds and other institutions to make important financial decisions. They allow us to assess things like the transparency, liquidity, depth or prestige of certain markets.
Not all of this stems from flag-waving nationalism.
Flag waving nationalists can trigger development of their country by packing the list with their own cities.
You have to appraise the studies as well.
Some rankings are done by groups that have built up a reputation over many decades, such as KPMG. They cater to the type of clientele who aren't really interested in listening to flag-waving jingoism when researching business opportunities.
The US is "top tier" only because it is one of the 30 or so developed industrial economies, and bigger than any other five of them put together. But per capita, the US doesn't rank at or near the top in any category that anyone would be proud of, and ranks last in some.
The U.S. is wealthier than any sizable country. That's certainly something.
Median and mean incomes are higher in the U.S. than basically anywhere. And for skilled professionals, the gap is even higher. A specialized physician in the U.S. easily makes 2-3 times they would make in Germany.
And housing costs and tax burden are lower than in basically any major first world country. So spending power in the U.S. is probably unparalleled.
Granted, there are MANY factors where the U.S. is nowhere near the to. But it's probably the best place on the planet for skilled professionals, if your objective is to make and keep as much money as possible.
Some people just want to rank or compare to conclude that everything USA is #1 ...
But the USA is number 1 at many things . Highest crime rates, highest incarceration rates, highest poverty rates, highest number of homeless people, highest rate of people living in mobile homes, most ghetto's, most blight and urban decay, highest housing costs, highest education costs, highest grocery costs, highest number of people without health insurance, highest number of people without access to halfway decent dental care, highest property tax rates, highest obesity rates, highest number of working hours per week, highest number of working days per year, highest number of people working several jobs to make a living. If only they would give us from other western countries a chance at being #1 at something.
But the USA is number 1 at many things . Highest crime rates, highest incarceration rates, highest poverty rates, highest number of homeless people, highest rate of people living in mobile homes, most ghetto's, most blight and urban decay, highest housing costs, highest education costs, highest grocery costs, highest number of people without health insurance, highest number of people without access to halfway decent dental care, highest property tax rates, highest obesity rates, highest number of working hours per week, highest number of working days per year, highest number of people working several jobs to make a living. If only they would give us from other western countries a chance at being #1 at something.
Yet, millions of people from countries all over the world are so desperate to come to the U.S. and pour in year after year.
Yet, millions of people from countries all over the world are so desperate to come to the U.S. and pour in year after year.
It must be perplexing why this is the case.
Millions of desperate people are trying to get into Europe too. I knew an American once who mooched of the system here and never worked a serious job in his whole life. I think he likes it very much here.
As I said, I'm not opposed to all rankings, some are informative, fun or maybe just a thing to measure where your country stands, like police brutality, which was discussed in another thread.
My critique was against this endless bickering about which is number one or number seven of global cities. "NYC is #1. No, London is! No, Tokyo is! No NYC is #1, Tokyo is #2" etc. That is my question: who cares and what's the point.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigCityDreamer
Yet, millions of people from countries all over the world are so desperate to come to the U.S. and pour in year after year.
It must be perplexing why this is the case.
Not at all. After all, the US is a better place than 90% of the world's countries. But as your president put it, the immigrants are mostly from "sh**hole countries" and not Norway. Why? Because the Norwegians have no incentive to emigrate!
Quote:
Originally Posted by NOLA101
A specialized physician in the U.S. easily makes 2-3 times they would make in Germany.
And housing costs and tax burden are lower than in basically any major first world country. So spending power in the U.S. is probably unparalleled.
Well they should be. If you have to pay 20k for health insurance, 10k for kindergarten a year + 40k for college, you have to have a good income, otherwise everyone would be in a debtor's prison.
Not so sure about the housing cost. At least property taxes are like 80 times higher than they are here.
The U.S. is wealthier than any sizable country. That's certainly something.
Median and mean incomes are higher in the U.S. than basically anywhere. And for skilled professionals, the gap is even higher. A specialized physician in the U.S. easily makes 2-3 times they would make in Germany.
And housing costs and tax burden are lower than in basically any major first world country. So spending power in the U.S. is probably unparalleled.
Granted, there are MANY factors where the U.S. is nowhere near the to. But it's probably the best place on the planet for skilled professionals, if your objective is to make and keep as much money as possible.
So, the US is a great country for skilled professionals, like doctors who take advantage of the unregulated medical-industrial complex and the skyrocketing medical cost to pay for those incomes.. What about the rest of us?
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. Highest crime rates, highest incarceration rates, highest poverty rates, highest number of homeless people, highest rate of people living in mobile homes, most ghetto's, most blight and urban decay, highest housing costs, highest education costs, highest grocery costs, highest number of people without health insurance, highest number of people without access to halfway decent dental care, highest property tax rates, highest obesity rates, highest number of working hours per week, highest number of working days per year, highest number of people working several jobs to make a living. If only they would give us from other western countries a chance at being #1 at something.
