Let’s Hope We Don’t Become Like France
What nation increased its total economic consumption most from 1970 to 2010? It wasn’t France. (See previous post.) Or any other European nation. It was the U.S., by a long shot:
United States 583, Japan 183, China 103, United Kingdom 73, Germany 63, France 53, India 47, Brazil 47, Italy 39, Canada 37, Mexico 37, Spain 28, Indonesia 14, Netherlands 11, Greece 9, South Africa 8, Thailand 8, Switzerland 8, Belgium 8, Austria 7, Colombia 7, Sweden 7, Philippines 7, Norway 7, Malaysia 7, Portugal 6, Chile 6, Finland 5, Ireland 5, Denmark 4. (source)
This is via Robin Hanson, who adds:
Units are tens of billions of dollars per year. All of Western Europe adds up to 285. Since total world change was about 1460, the US contained about 40% of all economic growth.
A rough estimate is the United States experienced double the gain in the standard of living compared to Western Europe.
Second that idea.
I’ve long wondered if much of the growth China and India are embarking on won’t be sustainable (at some point)
Yes. Let’s avoid being like France. Right on.