Why is US so rich?

[August1991]

Why is US GDP per capita so high?

I reckon that the US is rich because it is not a single country. In economic terms, the US is 50 small countries. California is a Canada. The other states are like Norway, Qatar or Luxembourg.

The US is a collection of small countries 

 

 

 

Edited September 2, 2023 by August1991

[Michael Hardner]

2 hours ago, August1991 said:

Why is US GDP per capita so high?

I reckon that the US is rich because it is not a single country. In economic terms, the US is 50 small countries. California is a Canada. The other states are like Norway, Qatar or Luxembourg.

The US is a collection of small countries 

 

 

 

That's not the same as "rich".  Saudi Arabia has a lot of wealth but would YOU want to be a citizen?

The US was born with an idea of commoners sharing the wealth.  It's a cartoon now, an old song like Yankee Doodle where people don't know what the lyrics mean.

[Dougie93]

1 hour ago, Michael Hardner said:

The US was born with an idea of commoners sharing the wealth.

that is not the case

the War of Independence was fought by a wealthy land owning elite

against taxation without representation

[Michael Hardner]

22 minutes ago, Dougie93 said:

that is not the case

the War of Independence was fought by a wealthy land owning elite

against taxation without representation

Of course... but I said "with an idea" not "based on the idea".   I believe there was a speech at the continental congress that specifically warned against democratic control of the wealthy classes.

[Dougie93]

6 minutes ago, Michael Hardner said:

Of course... but I said "with an idea" not "based on the idea".   I believe there was a speech at the continental congress that specifically warned against democratic control of the wealthy classes.

the arc pf America is that the wealthy classes were so exponentially successful

that it dragged the masses up, lifted all boats

and in fairness to the wealthy classes, those were the Abolitionists who freed the slaves

that idea only came from the wealthy educated upper classes, it wasn't grass roots

[Dougie93]

4 hours ago, August1991 said:

Why is US GDP per capita so high?

I reckon that the US is rich because it is not a single country. In economic terms, the US is 50 small countries. California is a Canada. The other states are like Norway, Qatar or Luxembourg.

The US is a collection of small countries

contributing factors would include

geography ; America is in an unassailable position, a continent between two oceans with no natural enemies

internal conflict, the Civil War made America the most powerful martial nation on earth

hegemonic succession :

America supplanted the British Empire without having to fight

when Britain essentially decided to join the American Empire of Liberty

this leading to America ruling the waves

he who rules the waves rules the world

[Michael Hardner]

21 minutes ago, Dougie93 said:

that it dragged the masses up, lifted all boats

Thanks in part to the American idea of opportunity and to worker struggles...

[Dougie93]

3 minutes ago, Michael Hardner said:

Thanks in part to the American idea of opportunity and to worker struggles...

that is certainly a factor

the Progressive Movement, Teddy Roosevelt the Bull Moose against the Robber Barons of the Guided Age

[-TSS-]

Would the US become considerably poorer if the dollar lost its position as the world reserve currency? That is the aim of the BRICS which expands all the time.

[Moonlight Graham]

5 hours ago, -TSS- said:

Would the US become considerably poorer if the dollar lost its position as the world reserve currency? That is the aim of the BRICS which expands all the time.

Doubtful.  It's the reserve currency because the US dollar is so strong and stable, not the other way around.  Investors don't see Brazil, Russia, India, China as safe investments like the US, not even close.  Would you park your money in a Chinese or Indian or Russian bank?  I wouldn't.

US and government and western corporations are still far more trustworthy and stable.  These other countries are run like the mafia.

Edited September 2, 2023 by Moonlight Graham

[Michael Hardner]

Calling China a parasite because they now do the manual labour to provide Americans with manufactured products... ?

[SkyHigh]

On 9/2/2023 at 5:20 AM, August1991 said:

Why is US GDP per capita so high?

I reckon that the US is rich because it is not a single country. In economic terms, the US is 50 small countries. California is a Canada. The other states are like Norway, Qatar or Luxembourg.

The US is a collection of small countries 

 

 

 

First the US GDP is over inflated, because of the military industrial complex amongst other things.

More importantly,the real metric of economic strength is the GDP to debt ratio and in the US it's very high 

[Aristides]

China also has a massive debt problem.

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3084979/china-debt-how-big-it-who-owns-it-and-what-next

[Dougie93]

2 hours ago, Michael Hardner said:

Calling China a parasite because they now do the manual labour to provide Americans with manufactured products... ?

the Chinese barely even do it anymore

as Chinese wages rise, they are offshoring

moreover, as Xi Jimping reimposes totalitarianism

manufacturers are fleeing to friendlier shores : Friendshoring

[CITIZEN_2015]

US has lots of resources but more importantly human resources and hence know how to use them. That said wealth in US is not divided fairly. The gap between the rich and poor makes it a poor country with respect to moral point of view.

[August1991]

9 hours ago, SkyHigh said:

First the US GDP is over inflated, because of the military industrial complex amongst other things.

More importantly,the real metric of economic strength is the GDP to debt ratio and in the US it's very high 

Maybe - military purchases boost GDP numbers.

====

I think you mean the government debt to GDP ratio.

Sorry, the US federal government is not a ponzi scheme. 

[Moonlight Graham]

On 9/3/2023 at 10:24 AM, Michael Hardner said:

Calling China a parasite because they now do the manual labour to provide Americans with manufactured products... ?

The labour part isn't parasitic, I agree.  These fine folks in these factories are working hard for little pay to feed their families.  I have no quarrels with no nor should anyone.

However, many Chinese companies and the government itself are parasitic.  They steal IP from any country that has anything of value to sell.  Not only western, but Korean and Japanese electronics too etc.  Of the products Chinese companies themselves sell I would imagine they sell by far the highest % of knock-offs among any country in the world...by a large margin.  They have a bootleg economy filled with thieves.

They helped destroy Nortel, backed by the government.  It's economic warfare.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/nortel-collapse-linked-to-chinese-hackers-1.1260591

https://nationalpost.com/news/exclusive-did-huawei-bring-down-nortel-corporate-espionage-theft-and-the-parallel-rise-and-fall-of-two-telecom-giants

[BeaverFever]

On 9/2/2023 at 5:20 AM, August1991 said:

Why is US GDP per capita so high?

I reckon that the US is rich because it is not a single country. In economic terms, the US is 50 small countries. California is a Canada. The other states are like Norway, Qatar or Luxembourg.

The US is a collection of small countries 

 

 

 

I would argue that when tue US first bece so rich they were much more like a single cohesive country than they are now. The fact that they are rapidly disintegrating into a collection of separate countries might be their undoing 

[BeaverFever]

On 9/2/2023 at 9:18 AM, Dougie93 said:

the War of Independence was fought by a wealthy land owning elite

against taxation without representation

…well against their OWN taxation without representation anyway. In the beginning they had no problem with limiting their new “rights and freedoms” exclusively to land-owning white males. 

[Nationalist]

Why? Because they took over from where the Brits left off.

The Middle East and their oil. Africa and all its resources. South America and all its resources.

America's "greatness" has been built on the backs of other countries. Spread a little money around to the leaders of such countries and you have an endless supply of cheap raw materials.

Today several African nations are telling the French to go fck themselves. Would France survive without all the free goodies they take from these nations? We will see. We are also going to see how America fares without the Saudis and other nations they've raped endlessly over the last century.

[Nationalist]

3 hours ago, BeaverFever said:

…well against their OWN taxation without representation anyway. In the beginning they had no problem with limiting their new “rights and freedoms” exclusively to land-owning white males. 

and Tweenkies like you will beat Caucasians over the head with that history till you die.

quite frankly...I think you're mentally unbalanced as Hell.

[Dougie93]

4 hours ago, BeaverFever said:

 In the beginning they had no problem with limiting their new “rights and freedoms” exclusively to land-owning white males. 

there was nothing written in the Declaration of Independence nor the resulting Constitution which stated this

[BeaverFever]

3 hours ago, Nationalist said:

and Tweenkies like you will beat Caucasians over the head with that history till you die.

quite frankly...I think you're mentally unbalanced as Hell.

Lmao. Sorry not sorry. I know you want a whitewashed and redacted version of history that suits your political narrative. But as the saying goes facts don’t care about your feelings.  There’s nothing “mentally unbalanced” about speaking inconvenient truths that you can’t handle and want to censor. 

2 hours ago, Dougie93 said:

there was nothing written in the Declaration of Independence nor the resulting Constitution which stated this

And yet thats what they initially implemented 

[Dougie93]

1 minute ago, BeaverFever said:

And yet thats what they initially implemented 

because the colonies become states were much more independent then

a federal government was only nascent, barely formed

who could vote or not was a States Right, the federal government didn't decide 

it took 87 years for the Federal Government to confront it

the 14th amendment only imposed by a catastrophic total war of annihilation

[Dougie93]

49 minutes ago, BeaverFever said:

And yet thats what they initially implemented 

you do realize that Canada did not have the vote in 1776

Canada did not have the vote in 1789

Canada did not even have the vote by 1865

and that Canada in fact sided with the slave holding Confederates against the Glorious Union ?

Canada being a base of operations for the Confederates during the war

before Canada provided them with safe haven after the war, feting them as heroes