Europe vs. America (Germany edges out Arkansas in per capita GDP.)

Opinion Journal ^ | Sunday, June 20, 2004

[AmericanChef]

Arkansas! Oh, cripes, that's a good one!

[painter]

Good seeing you again!

If England would slash taxes and pull back on their regulations they would probably exceed Germany's GDP in 5yrs or less.

The only problem with that it would probably start a war.

[Savage Beast]

Yes, the so-called "journalists" of the "mainsteam news media" are under the illusion that because their intentions are good it is their prerogative to "lead" the public by manipulating "the news". Of course, we all know where "good intentions" lead.

[Fiddlstix]

BTTT

[Savage Beast]

What's truly sad is that the Europeans do not believe that their civilization--Western Civilization--is worth perpetuating. People will live, work, suffer, and die for something they believe in. Contemporary Europeans have lost the will to survive, to defend themselves, and to perpetuate their civilization. This is decadence.

[RobFromGa]

Euros cling to the silly notiton that their relaxed lifestyle - paid for by taxes and high prices

And don't forget-- with the reviled Americans footing a large portion of their defense costs.

[Incorrigible]

Bump

[BeAllYouCanBe]

"Americans footing a large portion of their defense costs"

Also, we need to include the American development of computer and communication technology -- actually a lot of other technology but those two are the most important. Medical and bio-tech innovation from America are also used extensively in New-Saudi-Land (Old Europe).

So by having much of their improved standard of living and security paid for by us they don't have to pay their way for the easy life-style.

One other thing I've noticed is that they will never give us (the USA) any credit for our contribution to western civilization -- we are just an extension of their ideas/systems. They think they could have done that if only they had the natural resources??

[Fithee]

How do account for this behavior?

[alnitak]

You might be interested in this table I made for an essay. GSP = Gross State Product (like GDP but within just a state):

Table 3: GSP For US States

State	2000 GSP (MUSD)	2000 Population	2000 GSP Per Capita (USD)
California	1,344,623	33,871,648	39,698
New York	799,202	18,976,457	42,115
Texas	742,274	20,851,820	35,598
Florida	472,105	15,982,378	29,539
Illinois	467,284	12,419,293	37,626
Pennsylvania	403,985	12,281,054	32,895
Ohio	372,640	11,353,140	32,823
New Jersey	363,089	8,414,350	43,151
Michigan	325,384	9,938,444	32,740
Georgia	296,142	8,186,453	36,175
Massachusetts	284,934	6,349,097	44,878
North Carolina	281,741	8,049,313	35,002
Virginia	261,355	7,078,515	36,922
Washington	219,937	5,894,121	37,315
Indiana	192,195	6,080,485	31,608
Maryland	186,108	5,296,486	35,138
Minnesota	184,766	4,919,479	37,558
Missouri	178,845	5,595,211	31,964
Tennessee	178,362	5,689,283	31,351
Wisconsin	173,478	5,363,675	32,343
Colorado	167,918	4,301,261	39,039
Connecticut	159,288	3,405,565	46,773
Arizona	156,303	5,130,632	30,465
Louisiana	137,700	4,468,976	30,812
Alabama	119,921	4,447,100	26,966
Oregon	118,637	3,421,399	34,675
Kentucky	118,508	4,041,769	29,321
South Carolina	113,377	4,012,012	28,259
Oklahoma	91,773	3,450,654	26,596
Iowa	89,600	2,926,324	30,619
Kansas	85,063	2,688,418	31,641
Nevada	74,745	1,998,257	37,405
Utah	68,549	2,233,169	30,696
Arkansas	67,724	2,673,400	25,333
Mississippi	67,315	2,844,658	23,664
District of Columbia	59,397	572,059	103,830
Nebraska	56,072	1,711,263	32,766
New Mexico	54,364	1,819,046	29,886
New Hampshire	47,708	1,235,786	38,605
Hawaii	42,364	1,211,537	34,967
West Virginia	42,271	1,808,344	23,376
Idaho	37,031	1,293,953	28,619
Rhode Island	36,453	1,048,319	34,773
Delaware	36,336	783,600	46,371
Maine	35,981	1,274,923	28,222
Alaska	27,747	626,932	44,258
South Dakota	23,192	754,844	30,724
Montana	21,777	902,195	24,138
Wyoming	19,294	493,782	39,074
Vermont	18,411	608,827	30,240
North Dakota	18,283	642,200	28,469

TOTALS

9,941,551

281,421,906

Sources: Population figures are from the US Census of 2000, published by the  US Census Bureau, dataset PHC-T-2. GSP figures from the US Dept Of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, and are in current (2003) dollars.

Highlights:

• The GSP of each of the twelve highlighted US states exceeds the total oil income of OPEC.
• The per capita GSP of every US state exceeds that of Qatar, the richest OPEC member - West Virginia is the lowest at $23,376 vs. Qatar at $21,369.
• Lowly Kansas, with a population of just 2.7 million, has a GSP larger than Saudi Arabia's oil income.

[Notwithstanding]

Demoralization after WWII - whether Allied or Axis - caused them to give merit to nihilistic materialism and adopt it more readily than we did.

[Irish_Thatcherite]

"Ireland, which has lower tax burdens and fewer regulations than the rest of the EU"

Ha??

Maybe they are on about the island off Papua New Guinea.

"The authors admit that man doesn't live by GDP alone, and that this measure misses output in the "black" economy, which is significant in Europe's high-tax states."

That's more like it, would the Provos be involved in their cross-border tobacco smuggling to the extent that they are, if the government simply charged straight VAT on tobacco.

[Darksheare]

Did you HAVE to resurrect a thread last active in JUNE of LAST YEAR?

[Slings and Arrows]

[cyborg]

Welcome to FR. Not getting laid tonight? Do what I do and eat some chocolate then go to the bookstore.

[King Prout]

damn... that one caught the express train!

[Darksheare]

They JUST signed up too.

[Slings and Arrows]

I'll be playing Diablo II. Sad, aren't we?

[cyborg]

I have that game! LOL