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US takes 'richest nation on earth' crown from Switzerland

thelocal.ch

11–20 of 248 posts

Re: US takes 'richest nation on earth' crown from Switzerland

#11
post #7

Are they including the billionaires in their statistics, and dividing the total sum by the population!?

As much as I hate the anti-US tone on HN, this article is kind of crap.

Fact is, getting good wealth data is really hard. Income is much easier as the govt collects that data.

Re: US takes 'richest nation on earth' crown from Switzerland

#12
post #8
post #2

I suspect using the median net assets instead of the average would lead to vastly different results.

Actually the 20% poorest in the US has it better than the average EU middle class. Ref: https://www.google.com/amp/s/fee.org/articles/the-poorest-20...

I like how they calculated consumption, rather than income or net wealth. That's a more honest way of comparing poverty in different countries.

Re: US takes 'richest nation on earth' crown from Switzerland

#13
post #11
post #7

Are they including the billionaires in their statistics, and dividing the total sum by the population!?

As much as I hate the anti-US tone on HN, this article is kind of crap. Fact is, getting good wealth data is really hard. Income is much easier as the govt collects that data.

It's really hard, but Global Wealth Report does really try. This news is crap, the report referenced is not. If you are interested do read the report.

Re: US takes 'richest nation on earth' crown from Switzerland

#14
post #8
post #2

I suspect using the median net assets instead of the average would lead to vastly different results.

Actually the 20% poorest in the US has it better than the average EU middle class. Ref: https://www.google.com/amp/s/fee.org/articles/the-poorest-20...

This doesn't seem to account for debt, does anyone have stats on debt in Europe?

Re: US takes 'richest nation on earth' crown from Switzerland

#17
post #8
post #2

I suspect using the median net assets instead of the average would lead to vastly different results.

Actually the 20% poorest in the US has it better than the average EU middle class. Ref: https://www.google.com/amp/s/fee.org/articles/the-poorest-20...

Would be interested in looking at two things:

* How we do in terms of relative consumption along the percentiles, since that reveals how well we distribute consumption among working people. I believe that by moving savings into consumption we increase aggregate welfare, as spending by the people that receive the cash injection will end up generating more consumption than there would have otherwise been. However, I suspect that the current level of income inequality is also what's preventing massive inflation from occurring so it's something of a wash.

* As well as how our even lower percentiles compare to other economically developed countries. 5% of America is something like 15 million people, or ~two Washington State's

* Lastly, it might be interesting to look at what people have to do to earn the consumption they get at the 20th percentile. A lot of people in America are out their working 80 hours in minimum wage jobs to do that.

As a soap box: imo the biggest issues with American socioeconomics today are more about mobility and safety nets than about how much the poorest can absolutely afford. Like, do we do a good job of enabling people to improve their situation and do we do a good job of helping people stay there once they have made it through e.g., helping with substance abuse problems, mental health, and unexpected debt burdens, among other things.

Re: US takes 'richest nation on earth' crown from Switzerland

#18
post #2

I suspect using the median net assets instead of the average would lead to vastly different results.

Income inequality has only been increasing over time in the US, and GDP climbs while deaths of despair (drug overdoses, suicides) go up and life expectancy goes down.

Re: US takes 'richest nation on earth' crown from Switzerland

#19
post #2

I suspect using the median net assets instead of the average would lead to vastly different results.

FYI median per capita wealth figures are listed on the Wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wealth_pe..., but the amounts are somewhat different (I posted a separate question about why)

Re: US takes 'richest nation on earth' crown from Switzerland

#20
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually the 20% poorest in the US has it better than the average EU middle class. Ref: https://www.google.com/amp/s/fee.org/articles/the-poorest-20...

This doesn't seem to account for debt, does anyone have stats on debt in Europe?

That’s a good point. I’d like to see that as part of the comparison as well.
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