American vs. European Compairson If you ignore the tone of the piece and just look at the statistics, they sure are interesting. Birthrate differences, productivity, spending difference between the USA and the EU are pretty striking. Here’s a Harpers Index view of the article where he makes four points:

1. Centralization and size of government. EU and US have very different attitudes towards the size and role of government and centralization:
US Government spending as %GDP in 1980s: 24%
US Government spending as %GDP in 2002: 19%
NYC (largest city) as %US Population: 10%
Paris (largest city) as %French Population: 40%
2. US economy is amazingly larger and getting more so. The magic of compounding means that if EU continues to grow at about 2% less than the US, the desparity is large and growing. The most amazing statistic. The average African American income levels are higher than average EU citizen:
GDP Per Capita of US vs. EU: 1.5x
US Productivity vs. EU: 1.4x
%US Population at work: 72%
%EU Population at work: 58%
New jobs in the US since 1970: 57 million
New jobs in the EU since 1970: 5 million
%unemployed in EU for more than a year: 40%
%unemployed in US for more than a year: 6%
German growth rate 1991-2001: 1.4%
German exports as %world total in 1991: 11%
German exports as %world total in 2001: 8%
US exports as %world total in 1991: 14%
US exports as %world total in 2001: 19%
US as %world GDP in late 1980s: 22%
US as %world GDP in 2002: 30%
EU growth rate in 2002: 1%
US growth rate in 2002: 3%
DJIA decline in 2002: 23%
French, Dutch, German markets in 2002: 32-43%
3. This allows the US to spend an amazing amount on defense with little impact on the rest of economy.
US military spending as % of world total: 40%
US military R&D as % of world total: 80%
US military spending as %GDP in 1980s: 7%
US military spending as %GDP in 2002: 3%
US carrier battlegroups in 2003: 13
All other carrier battlegroups in the world: 2
4. Looking to the future, he points out that this trend is based on demographics and that they will accelerate into the future if current trends continue.
Births per woman needed to keep a population stable: 2.1
German births per woman: 1.4
Italian and Spanish births per woman: 1.2
German population in 2001: 82 million
German population in 2051: 67 million
Italian population in 2001: 58 million
Italian population in 2051: 39 million
US population in 1901: 76 million
US population in 2001: 283 million
US population in 2051: 410 million
Median german age in 2030: 50
Median italian age in 2030: 54
Median US age in 2030: upper 30s
US population as ratio of EU population in 2051: 1.5x
US economy as ratio of EU economy in 2051: 2x

2 responses to “America to European Comparison”

  1. Jim Ausman Avatar
    Jim Ausman

    Almost all of this “magic” growth is due to the increase in the US population. GDP per capita in the EU is closing on the US and continues to do so. Productivity in the EU – the measure of GDP output per hour worked – has already passed the US in Germany, Benelux, and Scandinavia and threatens to in France and Italy.
    The EU worker works less hours, by choice, and has a lower participation rate of women in the economy.
    As for the long term unemployed, the equivalent in the US is the prison population, which equals the percentage size of the long term unemployed in Europe, but costs society even more to take care of in the US.
    Add to that the cost of the defence budget, which you mention, and the larger and rising cost of health care in the US, and the US economy does not look so healthy.

  2. A Little Ludwig Goes A Long Way Avatar

    America to European Comparison
    America to European Comparison. Fascinating read Rich found — Tong Family Blog: America to European Comparison…

I’m Rich & Co.

Welcome to Tongfamily, our cozy corner of the internet dedicated to all things technology and interesting. Here, we invite you to join us on a journey of tips, tricks, and traps. Let’s get geeky!

Let’s connect