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Lessons from America’s astonishing economic record
61–70 of 528 posts
Re: Lessons from America’s astonishing economic record
#62How would Europe even compete with America in the long run. America just has so many advantages (massive influx of talented workers, one country, better equiped with natural resources, the supremacy of the dolllar). There are many other reasons some of which might not seem clear cut. The average American or European life requires an economy which is on average much better than the average for the world. If you do not…
Being from Europe, my perspective might be as biased as American fatalism but as the article says I think the key most important aspect is lacking a true single market and I'm sceptical of us ever achieving it.
The more we fall behind the more we'll cling to tradition and avoid further integration, a continuous cycle.
Re: Lessons from America’s astonishing economic record
#63”Average incomes have grown much faster than in western Europe or Japan. Also adjusted for purchasing power, they exceed $50,000 in Mississippi, America’s poorest state—higher than in France.” The article casually dismisses the counterpoint that the US trades high income for a lower social safety net. The average French person has a life expectancy of 82. In Mississippi it’s 74.9, on par with Lithuania. Even Vietnam…
lower life expectancy in US in general can be attributed to a more unhealthy diet and less walking, which is on the flip side due to US's economic success - affordance for more food and richer food, as well as affordance for car as transportation. Another attribution is the larger amount of immigrants, which as a segment has lower income level and thus lower life expectancy
Most industrialized countries have abundant food and access to cars. That's not the issue.
Re: Lessons from America’s astonishing economic record
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
No idea, but as an American who moved to Europe it's crazy how much ambition is casually discouraged ("the notions on him!") and investors are chickenshit scaredycats offering tiny numbers. Pathetic pay too. But I still live in Europe because I prefer well designed cities and everyone (mostly) having ample vacation time.
As a European who moved to California the societal stigma around young ambition in Ireland was brutal. When I started my first company in my 20’s and spoke to friends and family about it a phrase I frequently heard was “ah here, why would you stick your head above the parapet?”[0] Having seen the kinds of Irish startups that get funding from Irish VCs they both tend to be run by Irish men in their 50’s/60’s who’ve be…
Ambition has it's downsides. Risk does not always return with reward and often the reward has a high cost.
Such attitudes exist for a good reason. But at the same time the alternative attitude also exists for a good reason.
Re: Lessons from America’s astonishing economic record
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
lower life expectancy in US in general can be attributed to a more unhealthy diet and less walking, which is on the flip side due to US's economic success - affordance for more food and richer food, as well as affordance for car as transportation. Another attribution is the larger amount of immigrants, which as a segment has lower income level and thus lower life expectancy
>affordance for more food and richer food yeah, the U.S eats richer food than the French.
More available produce year round. Cheaper imported food from around the world due to dollar's strength. More diverse cuisines in big cities, with a lot better Asian cuisines (sushi!) in general than France, due to large immigrations.
Re: Lessons from America’s astonishing economic record
#66”Average incomes have grown much faster than in western Europe or Japan. Also adjusted for purchasing power, they exceed $50,000 in Mississippi, America’s poorest state—higher than in France.” The article casually dismisses the counterpoint that the US trades high income for a lower social safety net. The average French person has a life expectancy of 82. In Mississippi it’s 74.9, on par with Lithuania. Even Vietnam…
Life expectancy figures are misleading though. Many people take it to mean "this is how long an average elderly person is likely to live" but is an average of all ages at death meaning more young people dying brings down the number. As the article mentions, the primary cause for lower American life expectancy isn't that its old people are dying younger but rather the violence and drug epidemics causing more young people to die early.
Re: Lessons from America’s astonishing economic record
#67I had a chance to travel abroad a while back and one of the biggest shocks to me was not being able to buy stuff with money. Like it didn't matter how much money I had, the stuff was just not in any stores. Ok, so what can I buy? No one knows, there is no walmart or bestbuy you just have to go to random stores and even then if they do have something it's much more expensive than in the US(in dollars).
Another shocker was how much in demand my dollars were. Everyone from street scammers to government officials massively tried to mess with me in different ways to get dollars out of me. Not because of exchange rates and the wealth it represents because if you want to buy stuff from other countries (not even the west) you need dollars mostly with euro and rmb also sometimes acceptable.
I have since gotten so grateful about so many things here.
But it seems no amount of wealth can cure the divisions and disdain groups of americans have for each other.
It really scares how little americans realize just how much they have to lose. I work in a technical field and get paid good but even when I was making $9/hr I remember thinking I had all my bills and rent paid, I was eating and drinking what I want (including my choice of beer and pizza! Lol), had my own car (shitty car but it got the job done) and I had free time to watch any movie/entertainment I wanted at the time and learn stuff like coding and infosec to do what I liked. And right now with no college degree I am literally doing what I love, I spend weekends on work related side projects even and get paid really good.
The only things I will not feel good about doing in the US is healthcare. If I get any serious sickness I will probablu become a medical tourist to mexico or thailand or something. And I had a glimpse into the prison and criminal punishment side of things a while back and it is truly terrifying. Like it was one of the main reasons I do all I can now to avoid driving a car, so I won't have to interact with the police.
One thing I have learned in life is while you should always work to improve your situation you have to always take bad stuff with the good. There is no paradise on this earth.
Re: Lessons from America’s astonishing economic record
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
> can be attributed to more unhealthy diet and less walking, which is on the flip side due to US's economic success - affordance for more food and richer food, as well as affordance for car as transportation. people in the US aren't driving because they can afford cars - they have to drive because they don't have any other viable options due to the way american cities are designed
There are walkable US cities, and one can move to NY, Chicago, Boston, Seattle or its outskirts. However, people choose to stay in the suburbs because they can afford it.
Isn't it the other way around? People have to stay in the suburbs because they can't afford to move to NYC?
Re: Lessons from America’s astonishing economic record
#69As the article points out, immigration is a key factor behind America’s economic performance. Too many people in tech are hostile to immigration out of a misplaced fear of immigrants lowering wages or ‘stealing’ their jobs. Whatever legitimate merits those concerns may have - and research shows them to be few — let’s never forget that the hard work and entrepreneurial spirit of immigrants help create these well-payin…
Let’s make sure we’re distinguishing between immigration of high skilled labor vs sending high skill jobs overseas or hiring high skill workers on low-wage worker visas.
I don’t know a single worker in tech that’s hostile to immigration of high skilled labor, nor afraid of said immigrant stealing their job. Most people I know would be grateful for some help.
I know plenty of people critical of work visa programs (including some of those working on them) and plenty of people critical of offshoring high or mid-skill labor. I also know plenty of people not happy about low-skill workers immigrating illegally en masse.
None of that should be confused with an animus towards immigration generally. Willfully blurring out any nuance in such a complex topic isn’t helpful for finding solutions or common ground.
Re: Lessons from America’s astonishing economic record
#70How would Europe even compete with America in the long run. America just has so many advantages (massive influx of talented workers, one country, better equiped with natural resources, the supremacy of the dolllar). There are many other reasons some of which might not seem clear cut. The average American or European life requires an economy which is on average much better than the average for the world. If you do not…
Being from Europe, my perspective might be as biased as American fatalism but as the article says I think the key most important aspect is lacking a true single market and I'm sceptical of us ever achieving it. The more we fall behind the more we'll cling to tradition and avoid further integration, a continuous cycle.
> we'll cling to tradition
I think this is mostly a matter of old voter bases.