The blogosphere has been buzzing with a debate on whether America or Europe is more prosperous. A partial list of contestants includes Jim Manzi, Paul Krugman, Matt Welch, Megan McArdle, Matthew Yglesias, and Tino (don’t know who he is, but his blog has lots of good info).
I’ve addressed this issue in the past, with detailed comparisons in my Cato study on the Nordic Model, as well as a paper for the Heritage Foundation looking at Fiscal Policy Lessons from Europe.
I’m frankly shocked when people claim Europe is as rich as the United States, for the simple reason that the data showing otherwise is so abundant. The following charts, both from presumably impeccable sources, should be more than enough to end the argument. The first one is from OECD data (see page 6), showing average individual consumption per capita. I compare America to the EU-15 (Western Europe), but then also add Norway and Switzerland to the mix to boost the European score.
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