I plan on doing a more thorough charting of Luxembourg, but I just wanted to point out how much richer they are than the US.
Now, depending on the measure you use, the US is getting some pretty fierce competition from the likes of Norway, Luxembourg and Ireland. And although most of the figures I've seen still has the US ranked #2 in the world, apparently the World Bank (via NationMaster.com) doesn't think so. Then again, this could be due to a weak dollar and I didn't really check to see if it was adjusted for PPP. Furthermore, methinks the World Bank isn't exactly packed with free-market capitalists and it might have slipped their mind to make those adjustments.
The Nationmaster statistics are definitely calculated on an exchange-rate basis. Look at China, for example. Also, it says "Nominal" right at the top. The PPP figures, also from the world bank, are here. On a PPP basis, no large country even comes close to Ireland, Norway, and the US.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I just noticed that the CIA updated the factbook. Check out the newest rankings. The UAE and a few micronations seem to have come out of nowhere.
Luxembourg's GDP per cap is so high because many of their citizens work elsewhere in the EU and are not counted as part of the Lux pop. But their income is.
ReplyDeleteThat's why small developing countries like Dubai follow the example of countries like Ireland or Singapore. Nobody ever says 'lets copy the Luxembourg example' because its a fudge.
Hey Anon,
ReplyDeleteCan you show me where that's referenced? Would be curious to read about it more.
Hey Captain,
ReplyDeleteRead more here:
http://www.townhall.com/blogs/c-log/Dan%20Mitchell/story/2005/12/28/180548.html
Sorry, but I got it the wrong way round. Many Europeans work in Luxembourg and their income but not popn is included in Lux's, not vice versa.