Are the "socialist" countries of Europe better at capitalism than the United States of America? Hard to believe, maybe? Here are the facts, taken from the CIA World Fact Book, Nominal Gross Domestic Product per capita (person). 1 Liechtenstein $145,734 2007 2 Qatar $141,733 2008 est. 3 Luxembourg $118,538 2008 est. 4 Norway $103,586 2008 est. 5 Ireland $68,574 2008 est. 6 Denmark $67,387 2008 est. 7 Switzerland $64,974 2008 est. 8 Iceland $62,490 2008 est. 9 Kuwait $61,499 2008 est. 10 United Arab Emirates $58,424 2008 est. 11 Sweden $56,703 2008 est. 12 Netherlands $54,640 2008 est. 13 Finland $53,616 2008 est. 14 Austria $52,696 2008 est. 15 Australia $50,887 2008 est. 16 Belgium $47,617 2008 17 United States $47,103 2008 est. European Countries: Liechtenstein, Universal Health Care. Luxembourg, Universal Health Care. Norway, Universal Health Care. Ireland, Universal Health Care. Denmark, Universal Health Care. Sweden, Universal Health Care. Netherlands, Universal Health Care. Finland, Universal Health Care. Austria, Universal Health Care. Belgium, Universal Health Care. The cost of living in the US is less so maybe they're not, but what do you think? They do produce more wealth per person, and have way more time off work, so what's going on? Sorry Iceland and Switzerland both have Universal Health Care as well. jheat I'm the one who pointed out cost of living in the US is less, I didn't assume anything. Never the less they still produce, far more per person, and work far less.
Politics - 3 Answers
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1 :
yea, and check out the cost of living per person. maybe you shouldn't assume so much so quickly.
2 :
That's because employers don't have to pay for healthcare, and can give raises to their employees on a regular basis. The health insurance corporations don't suck their profits through raising insurance premiums so much so that employees don't get raises like what is happening in the U.S today.
3 :
Well, I guess that depends on how you define what a good capitalist is. If you use the Nominal Gross Domestic Product per capita as a measure then it looks like several european "socialists" are better capitalists than the americans, but I am not sure if that is the correct way to measure it. You could also look at things like the current account balance: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_current_account_balance where the USA is in pretty bad shape ( and most of the countries you mention do pretty well). But then again People's Republic of China rank first on that list, does that mean that the Chinese are the best capitalists in the world? And what about other things like, Distribution of wealth. Are people good capitalists just because they earn a lot of money, or do the money also have to be distributed in a 'fair' way? Well, as far as I can see, the US-economy is not doing so well at the moment, other countries seam to be doing better. Does that answer the question? :)
