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Bernard Madoff, convicted of running an $65 billion Ponzi scheme, was sentenced to 150 years in jail. What’s your take on his punishment?
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In good times and in bad, Americans are better off than most of the world. About 1.4 billion people of Earth's inhabitants live in abject poverty. A more meaningful comparison is with those who live in Europe, Japan, Australia and a handful of other members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The U.S. fares well, even when compared with its industrial peers.
The U.S.' per capita gross domestic product (GDP) ranks only 16th in the world, behind Ireland, Sweden, Australia, France and others. But this understates U.S. living standards. Adjusted for cost of living, U.S. is tops among large, industrialized nations. In the whole world, it trails only Qatar, Luxembourg, Norway, Singapore and Brunei.
In housing, the average U.S. family enjoys nearly twice as much living space as the Germans, French or Brits. Even the 20% of Americans with the lowest incomes tend to have larger residences than is typical for households in Western Europe. In food affordability, the U.S. shines: Just 5.7% of household spending is dedicated to food. Most European and Canadian households devote between 9% and 14% to feeding their families. For Japanese consumers, food takes nearly 15% of household spending.
Health care is another story, however. 
There's no doubt that the U.S. is by far the leader in quality of health care -- for those who can get it. But access and affordability are a problem. U.S. health care expenditures in 2006 accounted for over 15% of GDP. The share is probably greater now. In France and Germany, health consumes about 11% of GDP. In Canada, it's about 10%, and in Japan and the U.K., it's around 8%.
The U.S. is low on key indexes of public health among major industrialized nations: infant mortality, life expectancy, deaths preventable with proper care and the high portion of people without health coverage. And there are more measures by which the U.S. doesn't compare very well: The personal savings rate is dismally low but finally beginning to rise. College education is less affordable than in many other countries, where governments provide much more assistance to qualified students.
Lower-incomers are less likely to move up the ladder than in parts of Europe, though upper-incomers are also likely to move down. The U.S. is less class-bound. Environmental quality is generally considered to be lower in the U.S. than in most other industrialized countries, though it exceeds developing nations.
It's a varied story on income taxes. The Bush tax cuts moved the U.S. from the 15th highest income tax rates in the OECD to the 21st. But it's a good bet that tax increases under the coming Obama administration will reverse some of that. Participation in the political process -- voter turnout -- is also lower in the U.S., just 62% this year, compared with 90%-plus in Australia, Italy, Greece and Belgium, for example. It should be noted, though, that in those countries voting is mandatory.
America's shortcomings may be more noticeable when the nation's economy is in recession. At the same time, government and business leaders face increasingly tough competition for global leadership. But in the end, the U.S. standard of living, when all factors are accounted for, still manages to rise above that of its rivals.
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POSTED BY: Ryan (January 04, 2009 08:49 PM)
Both above commenters are mistaken. As a pharmacist I am on the front lines of the healthcare crisis. I make a good living and can afford insurance. Many, many of my patients do not. People basically fall into 3 categories; they either rely on the federal or state gov't completely, can afford private insurance, or they qualify for neither. The real misery of healthcare in the US isn't its cost or its quality, its that middle America cannot afford the cost of access. What good is the best healthcare on the planet if don't have access? This is a REAL problem for everyone in the country because when people without health insurance get sick and go the hospital and cannot pay YOU, the American taxpayer, pay; the private sector pays. Health spending per Capita is so high here because the US does not MANAGE its costs. It "allows" the private sector to manage costs, which if you are paying attention has been proven not to work. Giving all citizens healthcare may cost money but at least the costs are managed. Kiplinger readers should understand that.
POSTED BY: D. Johnson (January 06, 2009 12:58 PM)
That is fine that we have great health care but it does no good when you have someone making $35k a year with no insurance or with insurance that finds a way to refuse coverage with an illness that costs $200k in treatments/surgery to help them live and who then is lead into bankruptcy by medical bills? Or a young couple that works hard but is just starting out in life has a baby that is put in intensive care after birth for weeks or months and faces a 6 figure medical bill. It's just ridiculous...but great I guess if you are wealthy.
POSTED BY: thomas (January 30, 2009 03:21 PM)
The USA does not have the highest living standards in the world! Start using stats and figures that matter instead of bogus GDP Numbers which tell nothing actually. The Average US citizen life expectency is only ranked 48th in the world compared to other countries and dropping. We also have a gini-index around 50 while most Western European Countries are in the 20's meaning a larger share of the economy is distributed among the population. IN Germany College Tuition, Trade educations are free! The European have an extensive Welfare safety net! The USA has 53 Trillion dollars in Debt throughout it's economy and this continues to rise at a 3.5 trillion clip yearly not including any of the stimulas packages that have been passed lately which will undoubtedly raise the 2009 budget deficit to nearly 2 trillion for the year!
The USA has an 800 billion current account deficit while a country like Germany has huge trade and current account surpluse and guess what the Germans do with their surpluses? They buy other people's assets around the world such as real estate, companies, Tresaury bonds,etc,etc.
Much of the USA is owned by other Creditor Nations and so How can we compare Germany to America or Japan to America since they are huge Creditors and we are a huge debtor nation?
You can't- Apples to Oranges or a Porsche to a Pinto!
The US Governmental debt within a very few short years will exceed 100% of GDP and the other debts including Trade, Consumer,Corporate,state,etc have been exploding over the past 18 years or so.
THe Eurozone is the world's largest exporter and exported around 2.7 trillion dollars worth of goods and services with a similar population to the US outexporting us in high-end services also. Where is the advantage the US has over Europe exactly? 85 percent of the German working age population has either a Trade/Vocational/technical Diploma or has attended University studies! Don't even try to say the US has a higher educational standard-it doesn't and the Trade figures would indicate many of our competitors are highly trained since Germany alone exports more than the USA.
One other point, even before the crisis starting in September the USA was adding $7.20 of debts throughout it's economy versus every $1.00 of GDP increase! In 1980 the USA was adding $1.79 of debt for every $1.00 of GDP increase meaning the USA has had no real economic growth for a long time but instead has been selling it's assets off to other countries!
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