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Why America's economy is soaring ahead of its rivals

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Re: Why America's economy is soaring ahead of its rivals

#41

Post by zpeti »

spiderfarmer wrote: post #31
roenxi wrote: post #14

This is an interesting take, because it contrasts with GDP PPP [0] which is suggesting that America is in fact being overtaken by its rivals although it has managed to outpace the EU. China is claiming to already be ahead and India is well on track to gain absolute economic ascendancy relative to the US. And I expect that Asia is going to start developing some serious military muscle on the back of that because they…

The EU is number one in quality of life and that’s all that matters to me. If we work just hard enough to maintain and maybe even improve it, other countries can do their pissing contest.

Which country? This matters a lot. I doubt you are in Greece, or Italy, or Portugal.

Did you know on GBP PPP Warsaw and Budapest are now better places to live than Madrid, Lisbon and many other Mediterranean cities?

It’s crazy. Perhaps Berlin and Copenhagen are still ok, but even France is on a completely unsustainable path that will explode in the next 10-20 years.

Re: Why America's economy is soaring ahead of its rivals

#42

Post by kiba »

ragebol wrote: post #36
spiderfarmer wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The EU is number one in quality of life and that’s all that matters to me. If we work just hard enough to maintain and maybe even improve it, other countries can do their pissing contest.

Quality of life costs money, and if we're not competitive, sooner or later that money will run out.

Quality of life also doesn't cost money.

Road infrastructure in the United States might as well be a form of digging holes and then refilling it back up again. Grossly inefficient when we could invest the infrastructure money into world class public transit.

Re: Why America's economy is soaring ahead of its rivals

#44

Post by WalterBright »

thomassmith65 wrote: post #22

That's an excellent summary of the economic state of the world. This excerpt is depressing... The challenge for other advanced economies is not just replicating America’s dynamism. It is to do so while retaining their cherished social safeguards. For all its economic power, the US has the largest income inequality in the G7, coupled with the lowest life expectancy and the highest housing costs, according to the OECD.…

> endure unstable employment conditions

It's also correspondingly easier to get another job. In Europe, making it hard to fire people means it becomes equivalently harder to get a job in the first place.

Re: Why America's economy is soaring ahead of its rivals

#46

Post by dachworker »

spiderfarmer wrote: post #31
roenxi wrote: post #14

This is an interesting take, because it contrasts with GDP PPP [0] which is suggesting that America is in fact being overtaken by its rivals although it has managed to outpace the EU. China is claiming to already be ahead and India is well on track to gain absolute economic ascendancy relative to the US. And I expect that Asia is going to start developing some serious military muscle on the back of that because they…

The EU is number one in quality of life and that’s all that matters to me. If we work just hard enough to maintain and maybe even improve it, other countries can do their pissing contest.

Where does this notion come from? Many Europeans cannot even afford proper AC in summer and heating in winter.

Re: Why America's economy is soaring ahead of its rivals

#47

Post by WalterBright »

didibus wrote: post #17

I'm never able to get to the "so what?" with these. Productivity growth sounds nice, but then it mentions that there's more inequality, higher cost of living, and more workers struggle in the US than other developed countries. How do I reconcile this? They make a point that eventually the other countries' economies would shrink and won't be able to afford those benefits, but also the US doesn't have those benefits ev…

> How do I reconcile this?

I'm curious why you care that some people have more money than you do? If you want mo' moolah:

1. upgrade your job skills

2. minimize spending (like get a roommate, eschew restaurant food, buy a used car)

3. invest the money you save

If you really want to make big money:

1. start your own business

Re: Why America's economy is soaring ahead of its rivals

#48

Post by rich_sasha »

One thing this article doesn't touch on is the soaring government debt, which is now really quite big: 120%, and IIRC if you add municipal debt, it's more like 140%. That is high. It also seems like much of the recent growth has been fueled by this debt.

It's unclear how this is going to unwind. America can afford, apparently, to run their deficit hot, but not forever and without limit. So at some point they have to start cutting expenditure and paying that debt off. What happens then? Or will they somehow default on it? Or, will they manage to deflate it via growth. But it is a bit of a sword of Damocles hanging over the economy, like ZIRP over VC successes of the 2010s.

The crazy thing is just how much the debt increases in living memory. Under Clinton, it was as low as 60%, which is considered a really low level.

Re: Why America's economy is soaring ahead of its rivals

#49

Post by mytailorisrich »

spiderfarmer wrote: post #31
roenxi wrote: post #14

This is an interesting take, because it contrasts with GDP PPP [0] which is suggesting that America is in fact being overtaken by its rivals although it has managed to outpace the EU. China is claiming to already be ahead and India is well on track to gain absolute economic ascendancy relative to the US. And I expect that Asia is going to start developing some serious military muscle on the back of that because they…

The EU is number one in quality of life and that’s all that matters to me. If we work just hard enough to maintain and maybe even improve it, other countries can do their pissing contest.

Quality of life is the result of economic prosperity.

If the economy falls behind then quality of life will follow at some point. In fact quality of life is already not so great and decreasing.

Re: Why America's economy is soaring ahead of its rivals

#50

Post by kbrkbr »

shiroiushi wrote: post #19
CalRobert wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How so? Healthcare? FIRE seems much more attainable in the US

Housing and healthcare costs are insane. When you're older, you need a lot more healthcare (and you won't have that nice insurance plan you had at your big company job when you were working), and housing keeps getting more expensive, which is a problem if you're on a fixed income. You could move to much cheaper locales (i.e. rural areas), but those are "healthcare deserts" where there's no competent doctors left and…

> "healthcare deserts"

Well, in Germany health care is affordable in terms of cost. However, while 20 years ago you just went to a doctor when you were sick, these days you will wait hours and hours even at your family physician's crowded waiting room. You need a specialist? 6 months if it's something serious like a cardiologist. If you're on private health insurance, alright, only 3 months.

I don't know if this is specific to Germany, or similar in all of Europe.

But that is a change many people notice that I speak with.

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