Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I find it remarkable that America despite having a Population of 330 Million People is still richer on average than smaller European countries . Not only that , but it has a higher HDI than majority of Europe despite having 10x the population and land. Usually countries with bigger population find it hard to develop and have a Good quality of life than countries which have a smaller population.
One issue with the measurement is that GDP Per Capita does not measure inequality. In addition, the Human Development Index (HDI) is not adjusted for inequality. Don't recall the study but I remember seeing an inequality adjusted HDI and the U.S. ranked 15th or 16th.
GDP per capita does not measure "quality of life" though I recognize it has its merits.
All that said, yes, the U.S. does pretty well for a large nation and agreed that universal healthcare is an additional area in which we need to improve.
The United States is perhaps the best country for highly educated, career-oriented professionals. If you are not in this category, then you are likely not going to excel. It will be an uphill battle.
Other countries work better if you just want to be “average.”
This is not remarkable at all because the US is the oldest fully neoliberal capitalist country of the world which means that is has a time advantage over the rest of the world. The US are now good in a system that they invented...is this such a big surprise...?!
It's like the horrible game Monopoly - those who start and buy the first are the onest with the most money at the end.
If you look at this list the highest whathever economic variables, they mirror the chronology of capitalism adoption.
Eastern Europe is behind Western Europe because it adopted neoliberal capitalism later and Western Europe is behind the US because it adopter neoliberlaism later than the US.
And some East Asian countries are above Eastern Europe because they adopted neoliberalism earlier.
And just by the way, the US is also the country with the world's highest prescription rate of psychopharmacology and ranks very high with depressions, this is clearly linked to neoliberal capitalism.
Nothing to be proud of, in my opinion. I feel sorry for everyone who is US-American and must live in the most brutal form of the world's capitalism and does not know alternative forms.
According to the World Bank, 769 million people lived on less than $1.90 a day in 2013; they are the world’s very poorest. Of these, 3.2 million live in the United States.
A study for the U.N. Human Rights Council has concluded 40 million people in the United States live in poverty -- and more than half of those live in "extreme" or "absolute" poverty.
Remarkable, indeed...
Economy of scale has something to do with it. The US can market a product to 300 million people with a single distribution network and promotional campaign, unhindered be customs detail, or if an import, only a single layer of uniform redtape. This magnifies the GDP without having much impact on the HDI
Economy of scale has something to do with it. The US can market a product to 300 million people with a single distribution network and promotional campaign, unhindered be customs detail, or if an import, only a single layer of uniform redtape. This magnifies the GDP without having much impact on the HDI
Not necessarily disagreeing with you but how do you explain China and India with 4 times the population of the USA not even matching our total GDP?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
