I never said that it had more than every single country in the world. You show two as having more than the US, Switzerland with about as many people as New York City and less wealth, and Luxembourg with about half the people that Fairfax County VA has, and less purchasing power parity than Fairfax.
So even your cherry picked examples in a way support my point. Compare the US to any large country in Europe and I don't have to pick states or large counties or large cities to support my point. The overall national statistics show that the US with more purchasing power compared to almost every country in the world, and compared to any large country in the world.
For national GDP (both PPP and nominal) see
en.wikipedia.org
en.wikipedia.org
Local Production
en.wikipedia.org
en.wikipedia.org
Then consider
| Consumer Prices in Switzerland are 93.28% higher than in United States | | Consumer Prices Including Rent in Switzerland are 88.63% higher than in United States | | Rent Prices in Switzerland are 78.05% higher than in United States | | Restaurant Prices in Switzerland are 111.83% higher than in United States | | Groceries Prices in Switzerland are 91.18% higher than in United States | | Local Purchasing Power in Switzerland is 0.18% higher than in United States |
numbeo.com
You would need around 4,114.84€ (5,617.53$) in Luxembourg to maintain the same standard of life that you can have with 4,600.00$ in Fairfax, VA (assuming you rent in both cities). This calculation uses our Consumer Prices Including Rent Index.
| Consumer Prices in Luxembourg are 27.10% higher than in Fairfax, VA | | Consumer Prices Including Rent in Luxembourg are 22.12% higher than in Fairfax, VA | | Rent Prices in Luxembourg are 14.01% higher than in Fairfax, VA | | Restaurant Prices in Luxembourg are 75.36% higher than in Fairfax, VA | | Groceries Prices in Luxembourg are 8.72% higher than in Fairfax, VA | | Local Purchasing Power in Luxembourg is 33.53% lower than in Fairfax, VA |
numbeo.com
| Consumer Prices in Luxembourg are 48.51% higher than in United States | | Consumer Prices Including Rent in Luxembourg are 57.88% higher than in United States | | Rent Prices in Luxembourg are 79.23% higher than in United States | | Restaurant Prices in Luxembourg are 102.81% higher than in United States | | Groceries Prices in Luxembourg are 20.48% higher than in United States | | Local Purchasing Power in Luxembourg is 16.11% lower than in United States |
numbeo.com
So local purchasing power is almost identical between Switzerland and the US as a whole. 0.18% difference. While purchasing power in Fairfax is about a third more than in Luxumborg.
Looking at big countries
Using IMF 2012 data (other sources and other close years will give similar results)
US - 51,704
Germany - 38,666
UK - 36,569
Japan - 35,855
France - 35,295
South Korea - 31,950
Spain - 30,058
Italy - 29,812
en.wikipedia.org
Even ignoring purchasing power, and just comparing based on nominal exchange rates (which would be tilting things your way because the US does better in purchasing power then other rich countries)
The chart above provides some additional perspective on Europe's "economic success," based on data available here that compares 2007 GDP per person on a purchasing power parity basis for U.S. states and European countries, and shows that if various European countries became part of the United States:
1. Portugal would rank #51 as a U.S. state, below Mississippi in per capita GDP.
2. Italy and Greece as U.S. states would rank between the two poorest U.S. states - West Virginia and Mississippi.
3. If France became a U.S. state it would rank #48 out of 51 by per capita GDP, just barely ahead of America's two poorest states - West Virginia and Mississippi.
4. Belgium, Finland, U.K. Germany and Spain would rank in the bottom 20% of U.S. states by per capita GDP, just barely ahead of Arkansas but below Kentucky.
5. Although Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark are among Europe's wealthiest countries, as U.S. states they would be between 14.5% and 18% below the U.S. average.
mjperry.blogspot.com
Even shifting to nominal exchange rates (where Europe does better than they do in PPP since nominal rates don't mark them down for high living expenses) and the EU at $33,889 is at less than 3/4s of the US's $45,725. |
