Interesting chart here. Americans are spending more money on food away from home than food at home. I don’t have much commentary on this other than eek in terms of cholesterol levels and I have noticed restaurants have been packed lately. https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/gallery/chart-detail/?chartId=76967
There is an uptick in food expenditures at restaurants and employees at jobs that have food carts outside. I was having an interesting conversation (private family chat room) with relatives in Arizona, South Dakota, Illinois, Kentucky, and with a relative who's doing contract work in Wyoming... The restaurants are very busy...often requiring a reservation. These are not fancy restaurants. Also, the expensive food carts that come to their jobs...food carts having the best business they've ever had. Simply, people have money to spend at work for food instead of using a vending machine or bringing a meal from home. On my last visit to the States...every grocery store was busy...often long lines. A lot more than the grocery stores in other countries. By the way, I did see a lot more fat people than I have ever seen before. I've talked about this for the past few years concerning the crazy number of new kidney dialysis centers, heart/cardiovascular centers, weight loss clinics, and fast food restaurants that seem to be in every neighborhood...some blocks may have 3 - 4 fast food places in the same block. It's something I never saw before 2015. There's an escalating unhealthy people in the United States and that's the reason why the United States now has one of the highest Obesity ratings. The United States is ranked #1 in Obesity among its citizens from among developed countries. Yet, we're not hurting financially enough for restaurants, grocery stores, and fast food places to have a reduction in the crowds. Therefore, the economy doing fine considering Americans have money to eat a ton of unhealthy food, dine out, or spend the bulk of their income on food carts at their jobs doing the best business...ever. In the past, when the economy was financially difficult for Americans...stores were not crowded and local TV news would talk about cars lined up at the local food shelter. Yet, talking to a military buddy in North Carolina... He said the food banks have long car lines on most days of the week and he saw the same in South Carolina to contrast what I saw during my last summer visit to the States. ---------- 20 Most Obese Developed Countries in the World 20. Kingdom of Belgium Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 23.99% The Kingdom of Belgium, or simply Belgium, is a prosperous European nation. It has a $723 billion GDP and a per capita income of $62,065. 19. Kingdom of Norway Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 24.49% The Kingdom of Norway is a Nordic European country. It has a $425 billion GDP and one of the highest per capita incomes in the world at $78,128. 18. Finland Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 24.62% Finland is another Nordic European country. It is one of the oldest regions in the world, having first been settled in 9,000 BC. Finland has a diversified economy relying on both primary and secondary products for exports. 17. Republic of Lithuania Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 25.01 The Republic of Lithuania is a Baltic European country. It has a $132 billion GDP and a $47,107 per capita income, which makes it rank among the top fifty countries in the world. 16. Hellenic Republic Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 25.04% The Hellenic Republic, commonly known as Greece is the cradle of modern day civilization. Its history is thought to date hundreds of thousands of years ago. 15. Federal Republic of Germany Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 25.04% The Federal Republic of Germany, or simply Germany, is a European economic powerhouse and the largest economy on the continent. It is also one of the most obese developed countries in the world. 14. Iceland Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 25.11% Iceland is a European Nordic island nation. It is one of the smallest countries in the world in terms of landmass and has a $25 billion economy. 13. Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 25.38% The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, commonly known as Luxembourg, is one of the most prosperous countries in the world. It has a $140,694 per capita income in purchasing power parity terms, which is the highest in the world. 12. Kingdom of Spain Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 25.49% The Kingdom of Spain is a prosperous European country and a former colonial power. It has a $2.2 trillion economy with a per capita income of $46,511, but more than a quarter of Spanish adult males are obese. This makes it a developed yet obese country. 11. Republic of Ireland Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 25.97% The Republic of Ireland is a European Ireland nation that shares a border with the U.K. Its PPP per capita income of $124,596 is one of the highest in the world. 10. Principality of Andorra Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 26.75% The Principality of Andorra is one of the smallest countries in Europe. Despite this, it has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world at $41,900 and is also one of the most obese countries on the planet. 9. State of Israel Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 26.82% The State of Israel, commonly known as Israel, is a Middle Eastern country. One of the most technologically advanced countries in the world, Israel has a $533 billion GDP. 8. Czech Republic Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 27.32% The Czech Republic is a landlocked Central European country. It has a $509 billion GDP and a GDP per capita of $47,527. Czechia also often has some of the lowest unemployment rates in the EU. 7. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 27.88% The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or the U.K., is another prosperous European nation and a great power in global politics. Almost a third of British adult men are obese though, which makes it one of the most developed yet obese countries. 6. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 29.05% The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is a Caribbean island region and a territory of the United States of America. 5. Republic of Malta Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 30.11% The Republic of Malta is an island nation in the Mediterranean Sea. The country was formerly a British colony which led it to serve an important role in the second world war. Since it is one of the smallest countries in the world, Malta has a small $29 billion GDP but a high per capita income of $56,338. It also has a diversified economy, that sees it export computer products, aircraft parts, oil, and raw materials. 4. Canada Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 30.47% Canada is a prosperous North American country with a large land border with the U.S. Canada is one of the few developed countries in the world which relies on natural resources to earn its export revenue. However, most of its economy is made up of the service sector, and Canada also exports large volumes of car parts, machinery, airplane equipment, and chemicals. The country also has high incomes, with its per capita income being $60,177. 3. Commonwealth of Australia Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 30.57% The Commonwealth of Australia is one of the largest countries in the world in terms of landmass. It has vast amounts of natural resources and leads the world in several commodity exports. The Australian economy is worth a whopping $1.7 trillion, and its per capita income stands at $65,366. It is also one of the wealthiest countries in the world, with a high amount of financial and non financial assets per person. At the same time, Australia also has high levels of national debt. 2. New Zealand Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 31.07% New Zealand is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean. Despite being the 51st biggest nominal economy in the world (GDP of $242 billion), the country has the 23rd highest per capita income of $47,278. New Zealand is another developed country that relies a lot on primary products for its export revenues, particularly the agricultural sector. At the same time, it is also one of the most environmentally friendly nations in the world when it comes to power generation, with large portions of electricity generated through renewable sources. 1. United States of America Percentage of Obese Adult Males: 36.47% The United States of America, or the U.S., is one of the most technologically advanced nations on the planet. It is also the world’s biggest economy in nominal terms, with a GDP of a whopping $26.8 trillion. America is known for having some of the largest fast food companies in the world, such as McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD), and carbonated drink companies such as The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) and PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQEP). wrbtrader
...Americans remain gloomy about the U.S. economy, even as GDP continues to expand and unemployment is at a five-decade low. The disconnect is spurring some policy experts and economists to examine the root causes of the gap and to look beyond the nation's still-elevated inflation. By many measures, the U.S. consumer remains in good shape. Most people who want a job have one, while wages are finally outpacing inflation. In 2023, the stock market rebounded from a brutal bear market in the prior year, bolstering the retirement and investment accounts of millions of Americans. One recent analysis from the Treasury found that Americans in 2023 could not only afford the same goods and services they did in 2019, they have an extra $1,000 on hand to save or spend, because median earnings have increased faster than prices. Yet if you ask Americans about the economy, most give it poor ratings. About 6 in 10 people polled by CBS News said they rated the economy as "fairly bad" or "very bad." "There are three plausible explanations — the first is self-evident, that people truly find the current economy unsatisfactory," said Ben Harris, director of the Economic Studies program at the Brookings Institution, on a Wednesday webcast to discuss the issue. "This could be due to unhappiness with the level of prices, or dissatisfaction with longstanding structural issues like economic inequality and housing affordability." Another explanation, he added, could be so-called "referred pain," the idea that Americans are unhappy about other issues, such as gun violence or social isolation, which then tarnishes their view of the economy. Lastly, Harris said there's evidence that polarized new sources and negative economic coverage could be to blame... https://www.cbsnews.com/news/economy-inflation-why-americans-are-so-unhappy-three-charts/ ------- Summary: The economy is doing well but there's a disconnect for Americans that the economy is not doing well. wrbtrader