92% of Americans want to live in Sweden.

[Rusamov]

It may be the medias fault, but when I think of america, i think rednecks and hillbillys, fat people who eat hamburgers, christian stupid parents who vote republicans and think public healthcare is bad and lets not forget Palin, who thought that she could se russia from alaska and thought africa was a country, and still se has the peoples vote. And recently me and some of my friend discussed and laughed about that governor of Texas who tought that USA was humanitys last hope. Duuuuuuuuuuude.

[Maurepas]

It may be the medias fault, but when I think of america, i think rednecks and hillbillys, fat people who eat hamburgers, christian stupid parents who vote republicans and think public healthcare is bad and lets not forget Palin, who thought that she could se russia from alaska and thought africa was a country, and still se has the peoples vote. And recently me and some of my friend discussed and laughed about that governor of Texas who tought that USA was humanitys last hope. Duuuuuuuuuuude.

Those people are just the loudest members. And besides, hamburgers are delicious,

[Rusamov]

It may be the medias fault, but when I think of america, i think rednecks and hillbillys, fat people who eat hamburgers, christian stupid parents who vote republicans and think public healthcare is bad and lets not forget Palin, who thought that she could se russia from alaska and thought africa was a country, and still se has the peoples vote. And recently me and some of my friend discussed and laughed about that governor of Texas who tought that USA was humanitys last hope. Duuuuuuuuuuude.

Those people are just the loudest members. And besides, hamburgers are delicious,

That i can not deny. burger King <3

[Sibirsky]

Our higher gini is meaningless. Our poor, are still better off.

You want your poor the best off. The poor, in a properly distributed wealth system, in a modern post-industrial economy, are the ones that purchase things from malls, grocery stores, etc.

When a company markets a smart phone, it's being marketed to them, if you want a strong economy, those people need lots of employment opportunities, and lots of money in their pockets. At least the way I see it anyway.

Yes, and our poor are still better off than the EU's poor. It's just that our rich, wealthy and extremely wealthy are so much wealthier than Europe's that they screw our Gini and make it high. As a group that is. On an individual basis they aren't, and they have lost ground over the past decade as the dollar has lost value compared to the euro.

[Sibirsky]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmEp97yQcRQ

all I have to say

There is a funnier one around.

One of the questions was:

"Where was the Berlin Wall?"

"Trust me, I'm thinking; I know this!"

That's just an extract of the full video.

The best one was name a country that starts with the letter.

A. Australia
B. Belgium
G. Germany
K. Kazakhstan
U. ????? There are no countries that start with U.
What country are you in? OH MY GOD!

Yunited States.

[Sibirsky]

Our higher gini is meaningless. Our poor, are still better off.

You know that the GDP per capita in Sweden is more than the GDP per capita of the US?

I was talking about the EU as a whole.

You now that disposable income is a lot higher in the US?

[Keronians]

There is a funnier one around.

One of the questions was:

"Where was the Berlin Wall?"

"Trust me, I'm thinking; I know this!"

That's just an extract of the full video.

The best one was name a country that starts with the letter.

A. Australia
B. Belgium
G. Germany
K. Kazakhstan
U. ????? There are no countries that start with U.
What country are you in? OH MY GOD!

Yunited States.

Yeah I saw that one. Good stuff.

[Sibirsky]

It may be the medias fault, but when I think of america, i think rednecks and hillbillys, fat people who eat hamburgers, christian stupid parents who vote republicans and think public healthcare is bad and lets not forget Palin, who thought that she could se russia from alaska and thought africa was a country, and still se has the peoples vote. And recently me and some of my friend discussed and laughed about that governor of Texas who tought that USA was humanitys last hope. Duuuuuuuuuuude.

That's not remotely representative of the US.

Russia is visible from Alaska. There are two tiny islands, one Russian, one American, that are within eyesight in good weather.

Palin never said that anyway. It was Tina Fey in a mock bit. What Palin said was true.

[New England and The Maritimes]

There is a funnier one around.

One of the questions was:

"Where was the Berlin Wall?"

"Trust me, I'm thinking; I know this!"

That's just an extract of the full video.

The best one was name a country that starts with the letter.

A. Australia
B. Belgium
G. Germany
K. Kazakhstan
U. ????? There are no countries that start with U.
What country are you in? OH MY GOD!

Yunited States.

Well, if you're calling the BRD "Germany", the COA "Australia", the KOB "Belgium", and the ROK "Kazakhstan", then it would only make sense to call the USA "America"

[Robert Magoo]

Our higher gini is meaningless. Our poor, are still better off.

You know that the GDP per capita in Sweden is more than the GDP per capita of the US?

Not when adjusted for purchasing power.

[Keronians]

You know that the GDP per capita in Sweden is more than the GDP per capita of the US?

Not when adjusted for purchasing power.

Why does that matter?

I would imagine that nominal GDP per capita is more important in this case, than GDP PPP.

[Robert Magoo]

-

[Robert Magoo]

I would imagine that nominal GDP per capita is more important in this case, than GDP PPP.

I wasn't really even paying attention to whatever argument was being made, tbh. Just injecting that information.

[Keronians]

Why does that matter?

Let's say you have $20, and it costs you $15 to buy a magazine. I have $15, but that same magazine cost me $5. Who's better off?

The difference is not that great.

I'm weary of PPP because the basket of goods it uses aren't representative of all the countries; a country with subsidies for farming will likely perform better at PPP than a country without those subsidies.

Besides, different countries have different tendencies. There are countries which have less demand, and those with more demand for the basket of goods used.

[Robert Magoo]

Let's say you have $20, and it costs you $15 to buy a magazine. I have $15, but that same magazine cost me $5. Who's better off?

The difference is not that great.

I'm weary of PPP because the basket of goods it uses aren't representative of all the countries; a country with subsidies for farming will likely perform better at PPP than a country without those subsidies.

Besides, different countries have different tendencies. There are countries which have less demand, and those with more demand for the basket of goods used.

Yeah, I guess. I don't know. Both sweden and the united states are very successful economies, regardless.

[Keronians]

The difference is not that great.

I'm weary of PPP because the basket of goods it uses aren't representative of all the countries; a country with subsidies for farming will likely perform better at PPP than a country without those subsidies.

Besides, different countries have different tendencies. There are countries which have less demand, and those with more demand for the basket of goods used.

Yeah, I guess. I don't know. Both sweden and the united states are very successful economies, regardless.

I point to you, as an example, to China.

Have you seen their GDP PPP and the difference between it and nominal GDP? Their currency is so undervalued it isn't even funny.

[Sibirsky]

Yeah, I guess. I don't know. Both sweden and the united states are very successful economies, regardless.

I point to you, as an example, to China.

Have you seen their GDP PPP and the difference between it and nominal GDP? Their currency is so undervalued it isn't even funny.

About 2x for China. India's is like 3.4

[Keronians]

I point to you, as an example, to China.

Have you seen their GDP PPP and the difference between it and nominal GDP? Their currency is so undervalued it isn't even funny.

About 2x for China. India's is like 3.4

I know.

But I don't think that's because the rupee is undervalued. I think it's because India's domestic market is larger than China's (not in terms of numbers, but in terms of aggregate demand), and, combined with cheap labour and fertile land, you have cheap food.

[Robert Magoo]

Yeah, I guess. I don't know. Both sweden and the united states are very successful economies, regardless.

I point to you, as an example, to China.

Have you seen their GDP PPP and the difference between it and nominal GDP? Their currency is so undervalued it isn't even funny.

Wow. PPP is like 1.5 times nominal GDP there.

[Caninope]

Our higher gini is meaningless. Our poor, are still better off.

You know that the GDP per capita in Sweden is more than the GDP per capita of the US?

Only nominally. Not PPP wise.

[Caninope]

Not when adjusted for purchasing power.

Why does that matter?

I would imagine that nominal GDP per capita is more important in this case, than GDP PPP.

Except that the price of living is higher in Sweden. If I make more money but bring less home, do I really make more money?

[Sibirsky]

Why does that matter?

I would imagine that nominal GDP per capita is more important in this case, than GDP PPP.

Except that the price of living is higher in Sweden. If I make more money but bring less home, do I really make more money?

Don't forget the taxes.

It's really amazing how cheap the US is compared to other developed nations.

[Rupture Farms co]

There is no country in the world better then america, or japan. Don't question me on this fact either.

[AiliailiA]

There is no country in the world better then america, or japan. Don't question me on this fact either.

Okay. I'll just dismiss it as ignorant patriotic bullshit then.

[AiliailiA]

A low gini coefficient is good for consumer demand.

Our higher gini is meaningless. Our poor, are still better off.

You're making the case that the poor are "better off" ... on the basis that stuff is cheap in the US.

So is it just different spending habits, greater use of credit services ... a difference in accounting* ... or what that accounts for the bottom 40% of US Americans having near zero net worth? They may be earning and spending but it would be a plain out lie to say that they are "well off" in the usual way of measuring wealth: assets minus liabilities.

*It is possible that the Swedish figure counts the content of obligatory pension plans as personal assets, while the US figure doesn't count that (Social Security) because they are structured differently.