/biz/ - Business & Finance

[Anonymous No.402005]

[Country A]
Estimated 2014 GDP Growth:
>2.8%
Unemployment Rate:
>6.1%
Median Income:
>$39,531

[Country B]
Estimated 2014 GDP Growth:
>1.6%
Unemployment Rate:
>6.1%
Median Income:
>$30,721

There's a certain narrative on /biz/ when it comes to the US and Germany. The US is in the midst of a depression and on the verge of total collapse, with absolutely no employment opportunities available to anybody. Germany is thriving and wealthy, without any of the issues that plague other countries. So I'd like you all to take a guess, based on the above economic indicators, as to whether Countries A/B are Germany or the US.

Source for GDP Growth:
>https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2014/update/01/
Sources for Unemployment Rate:
>http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000
>http://www.economist.com/markets-data
Source for Median Income:
>http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/topics/income/

[Anonymous No.402018]

>>402005
I'm from Europe and lived in the US as well. There isn't much difference in terms of quality of life. Other countries just like to shit on the US because they need a villain. The difference is that the rest of the world talks about the US and the US is mostly self-involved. Most Americans could care less what the rest of the world thinks of them.

[Anonymous No.402031]

>>402018
I'm actually an American ex-pat living in the EU (Brussels). I agree with you completely. Quality of life is more or less the same with some marginal differences compared to second/third world countries. There seems to be this misconception that the EU and the US are on vastly different levels.

Also Americans either seem to don't care about other countries or relentlessly suck the dick of anything foreign.

[Anonymous No.402047]

>>402031
Maybe people just want excuses as to why they are not doing well?

>I can't get a job look at unemployment rates there is none out there!

I personally believe there are a lot of business and job opportunities all over the globe for people that are motivated enough to go after them.

[Anonymous No.402153]

>>402047
I think it's a general attitude of Americans wanting the US to be the dominant economic superpower with a quality of life far above the rest of the world, They don't want "modest" economic growth they want "booming" ecpnomic growth.

It's the attitude that caused the recession, arguably.

[Anonymous No.402637]

Fuck off back to /int/, Riley.

[Anonymous No.402640]

>>402637
Who is riley?

[Anonymous No.402645]

>>402005
>The US is in the midst of a depression and on the verge of total collapse,

Lol are you serious right now? Recession ended in 2009 and aside from a sloppy first quarter, 2014 is looking to be a great year.

[Anonymous No.402648]

>>402645
I think you misunderstood what I was trying to say.

[Anonymous No.402652]

>>402648
Oops, yes I did.

>>402153
I'm pretty sure the people who can influence the economy the most (Fed) knows how big of a deal inflation is. Also, we (Americans) have an entire political party dedicated towards a "self-prospering" mentality, so that faction of the US doesn't give a shit about aggregate quality of life so much as increasing the spoils at the top.

[Anonymous No.402657]

>>402652
>I'm pretty sure the people who can influence the economy the most (Fed) knows how big of a deal inflation is.
Only one or two governors seem to be concerned about inflation at this point.

>Also, we (Americans) have an entire political party dedicated towards a "self-prospering" mentality, so that faction of the US doesn't give a shit about aggregate quality of life so much as increasing the spoils at the top.
Political parties, by their very nature, can't care about people. They exist to get elected and remain in power. They care about nothing else.

The Republicans aren't "dedicated" to anything besides winning elections. Their ideology is meaningless and this is true of the democrats as well. Republican corporatism is a means to an end, just as ruinous immigration policy is a means to an end for the Democrats.