Looking at GDPs, the US is at ~27tril, and the EU is at ~19 tril. US billionaires account for ~6tril of the total, while European billionaires are at ~3tril. Meaning the US, with a smaller population, has more money to split among the average citizen. What am I missing? /u/whywouldieatFUNGUS No such thing as stupid questions

Disclaimer: I have never been to Europe and this is coming purely from a place of ignorance.

My apologies if it seems like a rambling, but I’m constantly inundated with comparisons between American and European standards of living. With most people online seeming to agree that the US has a lower standard of living than most of Europe.

Salaries seem, on average, higher in the US. (38k USD in UK, 41K in France, 63K in US). While the federal minimum wage in the US is technically 7.25, (UK, France, Germany are all ~12-13usd) a large number of states set this number much higher, with some reaching to 15$.

While healthcare seems to be the big one, the average American spends ~14k a year on healthcare. This would still place the average US salary higher than France and the UK, and just under Germany.

So my question is, if the average American is, seemingly, significantly richer than the average European, why do we compare so unfavorably in online talks? Is it literally just the uncertainty of healthcare?

Disclaimer: I have never been to Europe and this is coming purely from a place of ignorance.

My apologies if it seems like a rambling, but I’m constantly inundated with comparisons between American and European standards of living. With most people online seeming to agree that the US has a lower standard of living than most of Europe.

Salaries seem, on average, higher in the US. (38k USD in UK, 41K in France, 63K in US). While the federal minimum wage in the US is technically 7.25, (UK, France, Germany are all ~12-13usd) a large number of states set this number much higher, with some reaching to 15$.

While healthcare seems to be the big one, the average American spends ~14k a year on healthcare. This would still place the average US salary higher than France and the UK, and just under Germany.

So my question is, if the average American is, seemingly, significantly richer than the average European, why do we compare so unfavorably in online talks? Is it literally just the uncertainty of healthcare?