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0 pointsTade04mo ago0 comments

> The United States is the wealthiest nation on the planet according to Forbes, richer than the subsequent three nations combined.

This framing by Forbes (any many others really) is insidious because it doesn't take into account the population number and how unevenly wealth is spread.

For instance, Switzerland is not a huge economy - around the 20th in the world, but its citizens enjoy an extremely high quality of life because both income inequality and incomes overall are significantly better that in the US.

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apothegm4mo ago

Population size is usually included in those calculations. It’s typically GDP per capita.

But I couldn’t agree more that the inequality and social safety net (or lack thereof) make the numbers deeply disconnected from QoL. Which I believe is the whole point.

Tade0OP4mo ago

> It’s typically GDP per capita.

If so, then the US is ~7th, or 5th among nations numbering in the millions. Still very high, just not at the top.

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