Since the UK and EU's high scoring factors are paid for with high tax and government spending, one should consider the generational sustainability of this economic model. For all its public deficit issues, I think the US is much stronger on this count.
There's a lot of variability across the EU, but definitely some parts of the EU are in better shape in fiscal sustainability than the US (not sure if more of the EU population is or not).
The US' public finances are significantly more fragile than that of the EU, there is no strength there. The EU managed to actually reform and keep its debt low for the past 20 years, while the US debt has increased threefold and is now at a level higher than countries they used to call "failed" a couple of decades ago.
While the EU has kept all its social programs and increased quality of life, the US has made little to no progress on these areas despite spending tens of trillions over two decades.
I'm not saying the EU model is anything close to ideal, but is is absolutely not worse than the American one when it comes to public finances and sustainability of social programs.
More and more my neighborhood begins to resemble anything but Europe…And I thought we lived in a collapsing climate, with the Ruskies coming in 2027 (or has the EU once again moved the date?) and with Putin's fifth column - those traitorous European populists - destroying that formidable European democracy (democracy sans the freedom of speech enjoyed by Americans of course, but let’s just call that defending democracy).
Anyway, I get why Brussels prefers to go beyond the nitty gritty to look at subjective matters. And surely Draghi has retracted his report, right?
As for Krugman, apart from his past failings including understanding how inflation actually impacted the bottom 50% of Americans, when you hear ‘Krugman’ just think of Paul Samuelson's love for Soviet stats when he made his predictions about the USSR's glorious economic future…
Nice things in here. And surely not to ruin the August mood. Wonder what the author would write and emphasize if he were to live in the US now. One thing about the Krugman reference. Whilst I am squarely apolitical and in the middle, he is not. And this statement would be much more reliable coming from an objective place, or the right. It would make the claim more credible. So biases.
One more word: Defense. Not to drag this out too much.
Personal adage: No doubt life was much better 20 years ago in Europe than today. Safer, too. And being more affluent and or wanting to be very productive I am not sure the title of the article holds, either.
Better? In what sense and where? Europe is a pretty varied continent and there definitely are places there doing better than they were 20 years ago. Also, while I agree that Europe should and will pick up more spending for its defense, the US should be wary of wishing for that. Not to mention that spending so much on defense may not actually be a good idea when it makes idiot leaders think they can start stupid wars they don't know how to end.
I fail to find a statistic that shows life being better in Europe now than 20 years ago. Even if we compare it relative to other countries/groups of countries, there is still no noticeable decline.
I actually agree with this, and for the first time in history, more Americans are immigrating to Europe than there are Europeans immigrating to the US.
As a proud Canadian who lives in Norway, just returned from Tuscany, I can vouch for the correctness of this post (And the EU’s report). And I note, with sympathy for their delusions, the petulant fact-free criticisms of your pro-US critics.
Both sides of this are arguing about weights while presenting them as measurements. A 42-indicator composite has enormous latitude in selection and weighting, enough that the direction is largely fixed before the data arrives. GDP per capita is a one-indicator index with the same property, just less visible because the choice was made so long ago nobody sees it as a choice. The disagreement isn't really about the values. It's about what deserves to count, which no index can settle from inside itself.
I'm glad you enjoy all those state-run benefits, and I'm sure you never complain about the quality of those state-run services nor the taxes required to pay for it all. Good for you, mate! However, if we're going to look at the data, then we should also look at the people who vote with their feet and ask why are the citizens most capable of leaving the UK, leaving? I'd assume with all of these 'benefits' of living in the UK, they'd stay? Interesting..... https://www.visualcapitalist.com/mapped-millionaire-migration-in-2024/
Well, Klement was talking about Europe, not specifically the UK (plenty of whom likely moved to other places in Europe), and if you care about people other than millionaires, the number of Americans moving to Europe (for the first time in history) outnumbers the number of Europeans moving to the US.
Millionaires in the US live less than the average person in Italy and more Americans move to the EU than the other way around for the first time in history.
These state-run benefits are actually some of the most efficiently run structures worldwide, generating significantly better results than the GDP-inflating industries some of our friends have :). We also run these systems sustainably, while these same friends had to borrow tens of trillions of dollars in the past 20 years (now having a debt/GDP higher than what they called "failed European states") with almost nothing to show in terms of improvement of quality of life.
One other point you might be able to help me with:
There is a difference between the mean salary and the median salary, particularly when the Gini Coefficient in the UK is about 32 and in the US about 41.
The mean will be dragged up by the higher Gini Coefficient.
Whereas the median will nort
According to Google AI Overview the median salary in the US is $62,608, in the UK £39,039.
The exchange rate atm is: £1/$1.34.
So US median salary in £ is £46,722.
According to Investopedia and Google AI, the cost of living in the UK is about 15% below the US.
Adjust for that, £46,722 - 15%= £39,714. Not very different to the US but with less school shootings!
So my figures are sourced from the internet and i am not a professional economist, but am i on the right track.
Oh no! What will I do without Klement's daily insights?
On a more serious note, enjoy your holidays! I'm looking forward to late Aug already.
https://www.ft.com/content/6e1bd23a-a131-414e-afb3-46b2b4629d24?syn-25a6b1a6=1
Will need to ensure the foundation stays intact, though (true for EU as a whole).
Since the UK and EU's high scoring factors are paid for with high tax and government spending, one should consider the generational sustainability of this economic model. For all its public deficit issues, I think the US is much stronger on this count.
There's a lot of variability across the EU, but definitely some parts of the EU are in better shape in fiscal sustainability than the US (not sure if more of the EU population is or not).
The US' public finances are significantly more fragile than that of the EU, there is no strength there. The EU managed to actually reform and keep its debt low for the past 20 years, while the US debt has increased threefold and is now at a level higher than countries they used to call "failed" a couple of decades ago.
While the EU has kept all its social programs and increased quality of life, the US has made little to no progress on these areas despite spending tens of trillions over two decades.
I'm not saying the EU model is anything close to ideal, but is is absolutely not worse than the American one when it comes to public finances and sustainability of social programs.
More and more my neighborhood begins to resemble anything but Europe…And I thought we lived in a collapsing climate, with the Ruskies coming in 2027 (or has the EU once again moved the date?) and with Putin's fifth column - those traitorous European populists - destroying that formidable European democracy (democracy sans the freedom of speech enjoyed by Americans of course, but let’s just call that defending democracy).
Anyway, I get why Brussels prefers to go beyond the nitty gritty to look at subjective matters. And surely Draghi has retracted his report, right?
As for Krugman, apart from his past failings including understanding how inflation actually impacted the bottom 50% of Americans, when you hear ‘Krugman’ just think of Paul Samuelson's love for Soviet stats when he made his predictions about the USSR's glorious economic future…
Vive l’Europe
Nice things in here. And surely not to ruin the August mood. Wonder what the author would write and emphasize if he were to live in the US now. One thing about the Krugman reference. Whilst I am squarely apolitical and in the middle, he is not. And this statement would be much more reliable coming from an objective place, or the right. It would make the claim more credible. So biases.
One more word: Defense. Not to drag this out too much.
Personal adage: No doubt life was much better 20 years ago in Europe than today. Safer, too. And being more affluent and or wanting to be very productive I am not sure the title of the article holds, either.
Better? In what sense and where? Europe is a pretty varied continent and there definitely are places there doing better than they were 20 years ago. Also, while I agree that Europe should and will pick up more spending for its defense, the US should be wary of wishing for that. Not to mention that spending so much on defense may not actually be a good idea when it makes idiot leaders think they can start stupid wars they don't know how to end.
I fail to find a statistic that shows life being better in Europe now than 20 years ago. Even if we compare it relative to other countries/groups of countries, there is still no noticeable decline.
Slavia Europa & have a good holiday <3
Lies, damned lies and statistics ;)
This interesting topic is best analysed by truly independent actors, i.e. not the EU nor the US Gov.
Anyhow, this analysis needs to be enriched a.o. by public debt burden, real purchasing power and income inequality.
I actually agree with this, and for the first time in history, more Americans are immigrating to Europe than there are Europeans immigrating to the US.
That’s quite possible, indeed. We should add the political climate to the analysis.
As a proud Canadian who lives in Norway, just returned from Tuscany, I can vouch for the correctness of this post (And the EU’s report). And I note, with sympathy for their delusions, the petulant fact-free criticisms of your pro-US critics.
Happy hols!
Will miss opening your post each morning. Incisive comment always. Don't think AI would be the same 😂. Have a great holiday.
Both sides of this are arguing about weights while presenting them as measurements. A 42-indicator composite has enormous latitude in selection and weighting, enough that the direction is largely fixed before the data arrives. GDP per capita is a one-indicator index with the same property, just less visible because the choice was made so long ago nobody sees it as a choice. The disagreement isn't really about the values. It's about what deserves to count, which no index can settle from inside itself.
Stay cool, JK, and see you next month.
Perfect.
You have put in numbers what i have been saying, in words, to my Telegraph reading friends for ages!!!
lol Joachim you can yell this until you're blue in the face. But it'll never change.
Americans just value their material possessions (trucks, McMansions, boats, etc.) just more than all of that.
I'm glad you enjoy all those state-run benefits, and I'm sure you never complain about the quality of those state-run services nor the taxes required to pay for it all. Good for you, mate! However, if we're going to look at the data, then we should also look at the people who vote with their feet and ask why are the citizens most capable of leaving the UK, leaving? I'd assume with all of these 'benefits' of living in the UK, they'd stay? Interesting..... https://www.visualcapitalist.com/mapped-millionaire-migration-in-2024/
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-countries-with-the-most-millionaires-in-2026/
Well, Klement was talking about Europe, not specifically the UK (plenty of whom likely moved to other places in Europe), and if you care about people other than millionaires, the number of Americans moving to Europe (for the first time in history) outnumbers the number of Europeans moving to the US.
Interesting. Please share your data/source.
https://www.reddit.com/r/fivethirtyeight/comments/1t3mldx/for_the_first_time_in_history_more_americans_are/
Millionaires in the US live less than the average person in Italy and more Americans move to the EU than the other way around for the first time in history.
These state-run benefits are actually some of the most efficiently run structures worldwide, generating significantly better results than the GDP-inflating industries some of our friends have :). We also run these systems sustainably, while these same friends had to borrow tens of trillions of dollars in the past 20 years (now having a debt/GDP higher than what they called "failed European states") with almost nothing to show in terms of improvement of quality of life.
Joachim,
One other point you might be able to help me with:
There is a difference between the mean salary and the median salary, particularly when the Gini Coefficient in the UK is about 32 and in the US about 41.
The mean will be dragged up by the higher Gini Coefficient.
Whereas the median will nort
According to Google AI Overview the median salary in the US is $62,608, in the UK £39,039.
The exchange rate atm is: £1/$1.34.
So US median salary in £ is £46,722.
According to Investopedia and Google AI, the cost of living in the UK is about 15% below the US.
Adjust for that, £46,722 - 15%= £39,714. Not very different to the US but with less school shootings!
So my figures are sourced from the internet and i am not a professional economist, but am i on the right track.
Have you see/done any work on this?
If not, are you likely to?
You are definitely on the right track. Once you take purchasing power into account the median income is about the same in the UK and the US