Why America's economy is soaring ahead of its rivals • Hacker News Board

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

#121

Post by mathgeek » Wed, Dec 04, 2024, 6:58 PM UTC

loxodrome wrote: post #98

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.

I’m an American living in France for the past two years and cannot wait to move back to the USA. The taxes are so extreme and salaries so low that no one can even invest in the stock market. If I stay here, I will be able to leave virtually nothing to my kids when I die. The EU can take its 5 weeks of vacation and go fuck itself.

How would your situation change if you didn’t have to account for US income tax while living abroad? Does it offset at all due to agreements with France?

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

#122

Post by threetonesun » Wed, Dec 04, 2024, 6:58 PM UTC

ossobuco wrote: post #101

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.…

> cheap Chinese plastic junk will continue to eat the world That's a thing of the past. Check the consumer electronics produced today in China. Mobile devices, EVs, infrastructure, newer products are simply incredible, and I'd argue ahead of western technology on many fronts. Cheap plastic stuff now gets produced in other less developed countries.

A quick skim of Amazon for literally any product would prove this comment entirely wrong.

Do they produce quality goods now? Sure. But it's also still where most of your just barely above garbage quality goods come from.

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

#123

Post by voidfunc » Wed, Dec 04, 2024, 6:59 PM UTC

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.

Enjoy it while it lasts, your social programs are a gift from the US historically subsidizing your defense.

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

#124

Post by 7thpower » Wed, Dec 04, 2024, 7:00 PM UTC

ossobuco wrote: post #101

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.…

> cheap Chinese plastic junk will continue to eat the world That's a thing of the past. Check the consumer electronics produced today in China. Mobile devices, EVs, infrastructure, newer products are simply incredible, and I'd argue ahead of western technology on many fronts. Cheap plastic stuff now gets produced in other less developed countries.

This is a fact that most in the US refuse to confront.

China has mastered making high quality goods at scale.

It does not matter how they got there, the fact is they did, and there are some pretty staggering military implications that are not really being discussed.

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

#125

Post by alephnerd » Wed, Dec 04, 2024, 7:01 PM UTC

loglog wrote: post #116

amsechi wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

"Losing 30 trillion" is a very entitled view on decreasing real estate prices. Those 600 million people making 1000 CNY/month or less (and probaly another 300 million making a bit more) will be happy for a respite in being priced out of everywhere. This literally increases their purchasing power.

> Those 600 million people making 1000 CNY/month or less (and probaly another 300 million making a bit more) will be happy for a respite in being priced out of everywhere

Those 600 million cannot afford to buy real estate even at the crashed price.

The going rate for a 2bhk in a tier 2/3 is still $100-300k, which is still unaffordable given that median urban household income is $6k and median rural household income is $3k.

And this is the crux of the problem in China - all this "overproduction" isn't necessarily due to some grand strategy, it's due to a lack of consumers because salaries are too low.

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

#126

Post by addicted » Wed, Dec 04, 2024, 7:03 PM UTC

loxodrome wrote: post #98

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.

I’m an American living in France for the past two years and cannot wait to move back to the USA. The taxes are so extreme and salaries so low that no one can even invest in the stock market. If I stay here, I will be able to leave virtually nothing to my kids when I die. The EU can take its 5 weeks of vacation and go fuck itself.

What’s even nicer is if kids don’t need their parents to leave them an inheritance just so they can afford a roof over their heads.

The U.S. is filled with homeless people. Even Italy, which was doing economically terrible when I visited, didn’t even have a fraction of the homelessness problem as in the U.S.

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

#127

Post by cjs_ac » Wed, Dec 04, 2024, 7:03 PM UTC

ginko wrote: post #109

The headline is about America's rivals but then talks mainly about EU and other G7 economies. Do Americans consider Europeans their rivals? Occasional competitors sure, but rivals?

The Economist is a British magazine, originally marketed at devotees of classical liberalism, which was also called economism at the time. Its readership is largely British, and therefore seeks comparisons between the British economy, European economies and the US economies, because they are seen as peers of the UK.

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

#128

Post by matwood » Wed, Dec 04, 2024, 7:03 PM UTC

JohnFen wrote: post #91

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.

As a US citizen, I look with envy on the quality of life in many EU countries.

As has I’ve heard said, the best place to make money is the US and the best place to spend money is the EU. If you believe this is the case as I do, the next step is to figure out how to lifestyle arbitrage. Make US wages while living in the EU.

I’m older with bit more freedom than when I just started out, but this is exactly what I’m doing. My plan is to eventually quasi retire to the house I’m currently renovating.

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

#129

Post by alephnerd » Wed, Dec 04, 2024, 7:03 PM UTC

wslh wrote: post #108

My two cents: the U.S. owes much of its economic strength to its robust legal framework. It provides a system where complex business disputes can be handled and enforced effectively, creating trust and predictability for investors and entrepreneurs. This institutional strength is often overlooked but is critical for fostering innovation and long-term economic growth. Incidentally, recent Nobel laureates in economic s…

> the U.S. owes much of its economic strength to its robust legal framework

Pretty much. This is the mainstream institutionalist view which won AJR a Nobel Prize.

This is also the reason why China began the Guiding Case Project with Stanford Law before it got shut down due to Xi 2's crackdown.

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

#130

Post by quonn » Wed, Dec 04, 2024, 7:04 PM UTC

voidfunc wrote: post #123

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.

Enjoy it while it lasts, your social programs are a gift from the US historically subsidizing your defense.

This always went both ways with the EU providing a market. When the US stops to provide defense, watch and see the EU reaction, starting with all things digital.