General rate Top rate
(percent of GDP) (percent of income)
Sweden 53.2% 45.0
Denmark 48.3 40.0
Norway 47.1 23.0
Netherlands 47.0 72.0
Germany 39.2 56.0
Finland 37.7 51.0
Canada 37.3 29.0
Japan 30.9 60.0
United States 29.8 34.0
You might be surprised to learn that the United States has long
had the lowest tax rates of any industrialized nation. And how does
the level of taxation compare to each nation's standard of living? There
are three general ways to measure standard of living: earning power, purchasing
power and individual worker productivity. The U.S. has lost its lead in
the first and is losing its lead in the other two.
Earning power is defined as GDP per capita, or how much the average
citizen earns in a year. It is an important statistic because it measures
how advantageously nations trade on the global market. After the Second
World War, the U.S. was number one for 40 years. But in the mid-80s, the
U.S. suddenly began dropping down the list.
1991 Earning Power2
Switzerland $35,490 Japan 27,300 Sweden 26,900 Denmark 24,230 Norway 24,150 Finland 24,110 United States 22,550 Canada 20,840 Germany 19,830 Netherlands 19,310
Purchasing power, however, is a rather more accurate measure of standard of living. It shows how much each country pays to buy the same item, say, a loaf of bread. With its large, diverse and well-functioning market, the U.S. has generally enjoyed the lowest real prices in the industrialized world. But, as the chart below shows, it is also true that the purchasing power of other nations has been growing more rapidly than the U.S.' For this reason we should also look at each nation's percentage of the US purchasing power in 1970, and again in 1991.3
Purchasing Percent of Percent of
Power, 1991 US, 1970 US, 1991
United States $22,204 -- --
Germany 19,500 75% 88
Canada 19,178 72 86
Japan 19,107 57 86
Denmark 17,621 71 79
Norway 16,904 54 76
Sweden 16,729 77 75
Netherlands 16,530 72 74
Finland 15,997 58 72
The third measure is individual worker productivity. The following
chart shows how other nations have been catching up to the U.S. over the
decades:
Percent of U.S. individual worker productivity (U.S. = 100%)
1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990 United States 100% 100 100 100 100 Canada 77.1 80.1 84.2 92.8 95.5 Italy 30.8 43.9 66.4 80.9 85.5 France 36.8 46.0 61.7 80.1 85.3 Germany 32.4 49.1 61.8 77.4 81.1 United Kingdom 53.9 54.3 58.0 65.9 71.9 Japan 15.2 23.2 45.7 62.6 70.7
Unfortunately, the above figures give only
a crude measurement of how well each nation lives. There are severe problems
with measuring a nation's well-being by productivity alone; perhaps the
best analogy is that of a millionaire who wastes all his money on cocaine,
compared to an average person who spends it on food, clothing, shelter,
education, etc. (More) When one considers exactly
how each nation spends its GDP, the weakening of the U.S.' number
one position in the world becomes even more apparent.
Where We Stand publishes an index of economic prosperity that
takes into account all the following factors: productivity, salaries, equitable
wealth distribution, luxury-goods consumption, trading strength, poverty,
personal and national indebtedness, inflation control, business strength
and credit-worthiness. And the best-off nations are:
Germany 1382 Japan 1363 Switzerland 1332 Canada 1216 United States 1178 Netherlands 1087 Sweden 1079 Norway 1061 United Kingdom 1049 Denmark 920 Finland 910
But let's break down these broad comparisons into their components. Perhaps the most appropriate statistic to begin with is home ownership, the central part of the American Dream: (More)
Home ownership: Ireland 82% Japan 60 Spain 80 Portugal 59 Luxembourg 77 United States 59 Norway 73 Finland 58 Belgium 72 Sweden 55 Greece 72 France 54 Italy 68 Netherlands 46 United Kingdom 67 Germany 40 Canada 64 Switzerland 29 Denmark 60
America's decline in home ownership is symbolic of a larger erosion in living standards, which Americans have met in two ways. The first is that America has gone deeply into debt to maintain its lifestyle. The second is that families have been able to hold ground only because wives have joined their husbands in the work force. (Note: this is a comment on the difficulty of making ends meet, not on working women!) Europe and Japan suffer much less from either of these problems:
Percent of families earning two paychecks: United States 58% Japan 33 France 33 Italy 20 Germany 18 Netherlands 16 Average Household Debt United States $71,500 United Kingdom 35,500 Germany 27,700 France 27,650 Netherlands 5,000 Switzerland 800 Average Household Savings Japan $45,118 Switzerland 19,971 Denmark 18,405 France 17,649 Germany 17,042 Norway 15,196 Netherlands 14,282 Finland 12,387 Sweden 10,943 United Kingdom 7,451 United States 4,201 Percent of income spent on credit cards: United Kingdom 12% United States 10 France 8 Japan 4 Switzerland 3 Netherlands 2 Germany 2 Government debt per person: Belgium $16,423 Japan 14,049 United States 12,433 Sweden 9,541 Netherlands 9,368 Canada 8,597 Norway 5,498 United Kingdom 4,635 Finland 2,798 Germany 977 Trade Balance (millions): Japan +$77,110 Germany +76,713 Netherlands +7,990 Canada +5,047 Norway +3,769 Denmark +2,426 Finland -250 United Kingdom -37,958 United States -113,240 Current Account Balance (millions): Japan +$56,783 Germany +55,477 Netherlands +6,962 Norway +226 Denmark -1,402 Finland -4,895 Canada -16,593 United Kingdom -34,065 United States -105,900 Investment (percent of GDP): Japan 30.6% Norway 28.8 Switzerland 26.6 Finland 24.8 Canada 22.0 Netherlands 21.4 Germany 19.9 Sweden 19.7 United Kingdom 19.2 Denmark 18.0 United States 17.1 INCOME INEQUALITY
As mentioned earlier, America has the greatest inequality of income and wealth in the industrialized world:
Inequality of income (0 = most equal society, 100 = the least equal):
United States 99
Canada 83
Netherlands 82
Switzerland 79
United Kingdom 78
Germany 66
Norway 60
Sweden 60
Average CEO's pay as a multiple of an average
worker's pay:
United States 17.5 (More)
United Kingdom 12.4
Japan 11.6
Canada 9.6
France 8.9
Germany 6.5
Percent of Union Membership in Workforce:
Sweden 85.3%
United Kingdom 41.5
Canada 34.6
Germany 33.8
Japan 26.8
Netherlands 25.0
United States 16.4
Size of Middle Class (More):
Japan 90.0%
Sweden 79.0
Norway 73.4
Germany 70.1
Switzerland 67.2
Netherlands 62.5
Canada 58.5
United Kingdom 58.5
United States 53.7
Poverty level (More):
United States 17.1%
Canada 12.6
United Kingdom 9.7
Switzerland 8.5
Germany 5.6
Sweden 5.3
Norway 5.2
Children under the poverty level:
United States 22.4%
Canada 15.5
United Kingdom 9.3
Switzerland 7.8
Sweden 5.0
Germany 4.9
Norway 4.8
Deaths from malnutrition (per million):
Men Women
United States 7 13
France 4 9
Canada 5 7
Japan 2 1
United Kingdom 1 2
Norway 0 1
Head Start (percent of age group enrolled in preschool)
2-year olds 3-year olds 4-year olds
France 35.7% 96.3 100
Norway 22.8 31.6 44.1
Finland 20.2 16.0 19.6
Germany 9.1 32.3 71.6
United Kingdom 1.3 25.9 69.2
United States 0.0 28.9 49.0
HEALTH CARE
Health Care Expenditures (percent of GDP)4
United States 13.4%
Canada 10.0
Finland 9.1
Sweden 8.6
Germany 8.4
Netherlands 8.4
Norway 7.6
Japan 6.8
United Kingdom 6.6
Denmark 6.5
Doctors' incomes:
United States $132,300
Germany 91,244
Denmark 50,585
Finland 42,943
Norway 35,356
Sweden 25,768
Percent of population covered by public health care:
ALL NATIONS (except below) 100%
France, Austria 99
Switzerland, Spain, Belgium 98
Germany 92
Netherlands 77
United States 40
Average paid maternity leave (as of 1991; this changed with Clinton's signing of the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act):
Sweden 32 weeks
France 28
United Kingdom 18
Norway 18
Denmark 18
Japan 14
Germany 14
Netherlands 12
United States 0
Life Expectancy (years):
Men Women
Japan 76.2 82.5
France 72.9 81.3
Switzerland 74.1 81.3
Netherlands 73.7 80.5
Sweden 74.2 80.4
Canada 73.4 80.3
Norway 73.1 79.7
Germany 72.6 79.2
Finland 70.7 78.8
United States 71.6 78.6
United Kingdom 72.7 78.2
Denmark 72.2 77.9
Infant Mortality Rate (per 1,000 live births):
United States 10.4
United Kingdom 9.4
Germany 8.5
Denmark 8.1
Canada 7.9
Norway 7.9
Netherlands 7.8
Switzerland 6.8
Finland 5.9
Sweden 5.9
Japan 5.0
Death rate of 1-to-4 year olds (per community of 200,000 per year):
United States 101.5
Japan 92.2
Norway 90.2
Denmark 85.1
France 84.9
United Kingdom 82.2
Canada 82.1
Netherlands 80.3
Germany 77.6
Switzerland 72.5
Sweden 64.7
Finland 53.3
Death rate of 15-to-24 year olds (per community of 200,000 per year):
United States 203
Switzerland 175
Canada 161
France 156
Finland 154
Norway 128
Germany 122
Denmark 120
United Kingdom 114
Sweden 109
Japan 96
Netherlands 90
Note: the murder rate for the above age group is 48.8 per 200,000.
Even subtracting this entirely still puts the U.S. near the top of the
list.
Premature Death (years of life lost before the age of 64 per 100 people):
United States 5.8 years
Denmark 4.9
Finland 4.8
Canada 4.5
Germany 4.5
United Kingdom 4.4
Norway 4.3
Switzerland 4.1
Netherlands 4.0
Sweden 3.8
Japan 3.3
Percent of people with normal body mass:
Men Women
Germany 53% 37
Finland 51 37
United Kingdom 46 38
Canada 52 29
Switzerland 49 30
France 44 30
Denmark 44 25
United States 47 22
Sweden 44 25
Percent of people who believe their health care system needs fundamental change (More):
United States 60% Sweden 58 United Kingdom 52 Japan 47 Netherlands 46 France 42 Canada 38 SEX Percent of all children born out of wedlock: Sweden 46.4% Denmark 41.9 United States 21.5 United Kingdom 19.2 Canada 12.1 Germany 9.4 Netherlands 8.3 Switzerland 5.6 Japan 1.0
Having children out of wedlock, however, does not mean that the father is not living at home and offering support. Here is the actual percentage of families headed by single parents:
United States 8.0% Germany 6.7 Netherlands 6.7 Canada 5.6 Denmark 5.1 France 5.1 United Kingdom 4.0 Sweden 3.2 Japan 2.5
Sex education is more prevalent in Europe than America, where conservatives oppose it on the grounds that it condones sexual behavior. The statistics show the unintended consequences of this policy:
Sexually active teenage population:
Norway 66%
United States 65
United Kingdom 57
Germany 56
Canada 53
Italy 34
France 34
Percent who have not had intercourse by age 20:
Boys Girls
Belgium 61 63
Netherlands 58 62
Germany 33 28
Norway 33 25
United Kingdom 24 23
France 9 25
United States 12 16
Percent of sexually active single 15 to 19-year olds using birth control:
Germany 95% United Kingdom 92 Netherlands 88 Norway 87 Sweden 79 Denmark 70 United States 56 Teen pregnancies per 1,000 teenagers: United States 98.0 United Kingdom 46.6 Norway 40.2 Canada 38.6 Finland 32.1 Sweden 28.3 Denmark 27.9 Netherlands 12.1 Japan 10.5 Total teen abortions per 1,000 teenagers: United States 44.4 Norway 21.1 Sweden 19.6 Denmark 18.2 Finland 17.9 United Kingdom 16.9 Canada 16.2 Japan 5.9 Netherlands 5.5 CRIME People per police officer: Sweden 328 Canada 358 United Kingdom 400 United States 459 Netherlands 553 Japan 556 Denmark 594 France 632 Finland 643 Norway 661 Annual reports of police brutality (per 100,000 people) United States 92.5 United Kingdom 6.0 France 0.7 Prisoners (per 1,000 people): United States 4.2 United Kingdom 1.0 Germany 0.8 Denmark 0.7 Sweden 0.6 Japan 0.4 Netherlands 0.4 Death row inmates: United States 2,124 Japan 38 Europe and Canada 0 Percent of households with a handgun: United States 29% Finland 7 Germany 7 Canada 5 Norway 4 Europe 4 Netherlands 2 United Kingdom 1
Looking at the above statistics, one would think that Europe is soft on crime, while the U.S. approach to law and order is based on no-nonsense deterrence. In reality, Europe is relatively crime-free, and the U.S. has the worst crime rate in the world:
Murders committed with handguns annually: United States 8,915 Switzerland 53 Sweden 19 Canada 8 United Kingdom 7 Murder rate (per 100,000 people): United States 8.40 Canada 5.45 Denmark 5.17 Germany 4.20 Norway 1.99 United Kingdom 1.97 Sweden 1.73 Japan 1.20 Finland 0.70 Murder rate for males age 15-24 (per 100,000 people): United States 24.4 Canada 2.6 Sweden 2.3 Norway 2.3 Finland 2.3 Denmark 2.2 United Kingdom 2.0 Netherlands 1.2 Germany 0.9 Japan 0.5 Rape (per 100,000 people): United States 37.20 Sweden 15.70 Denmark 11.23 Germany 8.60 Norway 7.87 United Kingdom 7.26 Finland 7.20 Japan 1.40 Armed robbery (per 100,000 people) United States 221 Canada 94 United Kingdom 63 Sweden 49 Germany 47 Denmark 44 Finland 38 Norway 22 Japan 1 POLLUTION Travel on public transportation as a percent of all travel: Japan 18% Finland 16 Denmark 15 Portugal 14 Germany 11 Norway 9 United Kingdom 8 Netherlands 8 United States 1 Annual air miles per person: United States 1,698 Canada 1,105 Netherlands 1,014 United Kingdom 902 Norway 829 Sweden 575 Finland 506 Denmark 476 Japan 425 Germany 344 Average price of a gallon of gas: Sweden $4.85 Denmark 4.46 United Kingdom 3.56 Germany 3.05 Netherlands 3.02 Japan 3.01 Canada 1.40 United States 1.07 Energy Units of oil burned annually: United States 791.5 European Community 501.4 Japan 234.3 Germany 108.5 United Kingdom 81.3 Canada 80.4 Netherlands 24.1 Sweden 16.3 Finland 11.1 Norway 9.3 Denmark 9.0 Carbon dioxide released per person per year: United States 5.8 tons Canada 4.8 Germany 3.2 United Kingdom 2.9 Japan 2.2 OECD Europe 1.8 Total Carbon Monoxide emitted annually: United States 60,900 tons Canada 10,100 Germany 8,926 France 6,198 United Kingdom 5,264 Sweden 1,754 Netherlands 1,229 Norway 649 Switzerland 621 Total chlorofluorocarbons emitted annually: United States 332 million tons Japan 95 Germany 71 United Kingdom 67 Canada 34 Netherlands 17 Switzerland 10 Denmark 6 Finland 6 Sweden 4 Norway 1 Major oil spills (1976-89): United States 16 France 6 United Kingdom 5 Japan 4 Canada 2 Sweden 2 Finland 1 Germany 1 Forests cleared (thousands of cubic yards): United States 808,421 Canada 379,500 France 95,964 Sweden 84,612 Finland 72,864 Japan 57,272 Norway 14,810 United Kingdom 6,600 Acid rain (the lower the pH number, the worse the acidity): Japan 3.9 pH Sweden 4.1 United States 4.3 Canada 4.3 Norway 4.4 Denmark 4.5 Finland 4.5 Netherlands 4.9 United Kingdom 5.1 Energy Units of coal burned annually: United States 458.0 European Community 299.0 Germany 73.9 Japan 73.2 United Kingdom 64.0 Canada 27.6 Netherlands 8.1 Denmark 5.5 Finland 4.1 Sweden 2.5 Norway 1.0 Debris inhaled per person per year: United States 81 pounds Finland 44 Sweden 44 Europe 26 Netherlands 24 Germany 24 Denmark 20 Norway 15 United Kingdom 11 Japan 2 Government spending on pollution control (percent of GDP): Japan 1.17% Netherlands 0.95 Canada 0.89 Germany 0.78 Sweden 0.66 United Kingdom 0.62 United States 0.60 Norway 0.54 Finland 0.52 Municipal waste per person per year (kilograms)5 United States 864 kg. Canada 632 Japan 394 United Kingdom 353 Germany 331 France 304 Italy 301 Percent of all glass recycled: Netherlands 50.3% Japan 49.6 Germany 41.2 Sweden 40.0 Denmark 31.0 Finland 30.0 United Kingdom 27.0 Norway 21.1 United States 20.0 Percent of all paper and cardboard recycled: Netherlands 62.0% Japan 54.4 Germany 37.0 Denmark 32.0 United Kingdom 13.0 United States 8.4 WORK AND LEISURE TIME
Note the position of economic powerhouse Germany in the next two lists.
Average hours worked per year: Japan 2,173 United States 1,890 Sweden 1,808 United Kingdom 1,771 Netherlands 1,756 Finland 1,744 Norway 1,725 Denmark 1,699 Germany 1,668 Average paid vacation per year: Finland 35.0 days Germany 30.0 France 25.5 Denmark 25.0 Sweden 25.0 United Kingdom 25.0 Netherlands 24.0 Switzerland 22.0 Norway 21.0 United States 12.0 Average hours spent watching TV per day: Japan 9:12 United States 7:00 Canada 3:24 United Kingdom 3:10 Germany 2:13 Sweden 2:00 Finland 2:00 Denmark 1:54 Netherlands 1:42 Switzerland 1:34 News as a percent of all TV programming: Denmark 43% Sweden 35 Canada 32 Netherlands 25 Germany 20 United Kingdom 17 Japan 6 United States 2 Annual employee turnover in manufacturing: United States 40% Finland 35 Germany 25 United Kingdom 20 Sweden 18 Japan 18 France 14
How employers rate their employees (100 = strong identification with company objectives):
Japan 84.7 Switzerland 70.8 Denmark 68.4 Germany 64.3 Norway 60.7 Finland 60.4 Netherlands 58.5 France 57.9 United States 56.4 Sweden 56.0 Canada 52.2 United Kingdom 48.1 Percent of employees fired for cause: United States 52% European Community 43 DEMOCRACY
The U.S. may be the oldest existing democracy in the world, but it is also the weakest, and one of the only democracies where voting is not required by law. It shows:
Voter participation: Germany 87% Sweden 86 Norway 83 Netherlands 80 Finland 76 United Kingdom 75 Canada 75 United States 49 Average number of national referenda per year: Switzerland 169 Australia 18 Denmark 11 France 10 Ireland 8 Italy 4 Sweden 3 Norway 1 United Kingdom 1 Canada 0 Finland 0 Germany 0 Japan 0 Netherlands 0 United States 0 Number of political scandals since 1945 (More): United States 53 United Kingdom 42 France 16 Canada 5 Germany 3 Japan 2 Sweden 2 Netherlands 1 Norway 1
Number of politically motivated demonstrations, strikes, riots and armed attacks over 30 years:
United Kingdom 5,136 United States 4,258 France 1,566 Germany 622 Japan 524 Canada 260 Finland 63 Netherlands 57 Denmark 55 Switzerland 39 Sweden 33
The United Nations Human Freedom Index (0 = least freedom, 40 = most freedom. More.):
Sweden 38 Denmark 38 Netherlands 37 Austria 36 Finland 36 France 35 Germany 35 Canada 34 Switzerland 34 Australia 33 United States 33 Japan 32 United Kingdom 32
CONCLUSION
These statistics are shattering to those who believe that greater
individualism and less government somehow produce better societies. And
they should serve as a wake-up call to every American that this country
is headed in the wrong direction.
These statistics evoke two common responses from conservatives and
libertarians. The most natural response is to blame them on 40 years of
Democratic government. This, however, is a giant non sequitur. The
very point of this list is that nations with far more liberal governments
than ours have created better societies, even with somewhat less productivity.
If liberalism were really harmful to a nation's standard of living, then
these nations should be doing worse, not better.
Moreover, as mentioned earlier, America's truly liberal government
was replaced in the mid-70s by the corporate special interest system, which
introduced a conservative agenda of tax cuts for the rich and massive deregulation
of business. Corporate lobbyists, and not the interchangeable "Republicrats,"
have influenced legislation over the past 20 years.
The second most common response is that minorities drag down America's
statistics. Of course, blaming minorities for society's problems is an
old game in American politics, but it is especially dismaying in this case
because it is not even true. Take infant mortality rates, for example.
White infant mortality rates still place America near the very top of the
list. (The following chart deviates slightly from the chart above because
it is taken from the year before, 1990, and from a different source using
different methodology. But it shows the same trend nonetheless.)
Infant mortality rates (per 1,000 live births, 1990)6 U.S. (average) 9.2 Italy 8.3 U.S. (white) 7.7 United Kingdom 7.4 France 7.3 Germany 7.1 Canada 6.8 Sweden 6.1 Japan 4.6
And consider crime. In 1992, blacks were arrested for 35 percent
of all serious crimes.7 But even if you
remove blacks entirely from the statistics, America still has the worst
crime rate in the world, and by far! (It should also be emphasized that
that these were 35 percent of all arrests; debate rages as to whether
the police target blacks for arrest more than whites.)
The same generalization holds for all the statistics,
but it is important to realize why minorities are not responsible for America's
worse showing. And that is because society's most visible problems do not
stem primarily from race; they stem from poverty. The poor,
both white and black, share the same approximate rates of crime, welfare,
teenage and single parenthood, substance abuse and other social problems.
The rich, both white and black, share many of the same admired social qualities
in the same general percentages. Race is only important in that discrimination
against minorities has relegated a disproportionate number of them to poverty.
(More)
Ultimately, the fact that America's white statistics are still worse
than Europe's should put the race card forever to rest. White Americans
are, after all, transplanted Europeans. If their statistics are worse,
then it must be for a social reason. And that reason is obvious: polarized
wealth in America has enlarged its poor population, and dragged down its
averages despite gains among the rich. Clearly, rising tides do not lift
all boats.
Next Section: Final Summary
Return to The Reagan Years Home Page
____________________
1Unless otherwise indicated, all statistics
come from the international encyclopedia Where We Stand, by Michael
Wolff, Peter Rutten, Albert Bayers III, eds., and the World Rank Research
Team (New York: Bantam Books, 1992). The year 1991 was selected because
after these dates, the U.S. turned slightly to the left and Northern Europe
slightly to the right (although one could plausibly argue that very little
changed in any of these nations). Therefore, 1991 provides the best date
for comparing a decade of Reaganomics with 30 years of social democracy.
Although Where We Stand compares dozens of nations on most lists,
I have limited my comparisons to the U.S., Northern Europe, Japan and Canada.
I have included every nation from this group I could find; omissions in
my lists reflect omissions in Where We Stand.
2Earning power is calculated by deflating
each nation’s GNP to local 1991 currency before conversion to U.S. dollar
equivalents. GNP figures from U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency,
World Military Expenditures and Arms Transfers, 1991. Data for exchange
rates from International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and U.S.
Central Intelligence Agency.
3Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development, Paris, France, National Accounts of OECD Countries,
annual.
4 Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development, Paris, France, OECD Health Data, 1993; OECD Health
Systems: Facts and Trends, 1993.
5 Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development, Paris, France, Environmental Indicators, 1991.
6 Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development, Paris, France, OECD in Figures: Statistics on the Member
Countries (supplement to the OECD Observer, June-July 1993).
7 U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation,
Crime in the United States, 1992.