So the EU28 (soon to be EU27) debt/GDP fell to 83.3% in 2016 (Eurostat data as of 3Q 2016). Compare this to arnd 106% for US and arnd 150% for Japan. In fact, the only countries in Europe whose debt/GDP ratio is higher than that of the US are Greece, Italy, Portugal and Cyprus. Moreover, Europe's debt/GDP (and deficit/GDP) has been falling quite steadily from pretty much 2010 onwards, which cannot be said about a lot of other countries. Certainly not about US and Canada. So how is Western Europe "borderline bankrupt"? Many parts of the US are 30 years behind other parts of the US and other advanced Western nations. Same applies to the UK (have you ever been to Northern Ireland?). I don't really see how Europe is any different in that regard to other regions.
How much of the population and continent is living this way though in the US, UK and Australia. I'd be willing to wager that a very large amount of Europe hasn't progressed. Its a cultural phenomenon in Europe, people are attached to their outdated attitudes and lifestyles.
A lot of craftsmen who made things like cutlery, linen, woollens etc. were put out of business in the 19th century by machines and mass production. Much the same as US and Europe were easy targets for low wage economies later.
It's amazing what you can read on the internet, and even more amazing that your post was on ET. How old are you?
It's very hard for me to quantify "attitudes and lifestyles", so I don't really know how to respond to such an assertion. All I'd say is that, at least according to the OECD here, the poverty rate in the US is higher than in any European country.
Not really, you can quantify by the amount of people thst can speak the universally-accepted language - English. European economies that have a larger number of English speaking individuals tend to do better. Ones that don't are too closed off from the global economy and have failed to progress and that's why we're seeing these results in Europe. I picked up on this in my first few weeks in Italy. Trying to find an English speaking Italian in Italy is like searching for a needle in a haystack.
yes, but our poor live very well. Many people around the world would like to live like a poverty stricken American. My question is, how do they rate poverty? Based on actual income or based on income plus government benefits? So in one country you make more but it is taxed away and you need less to live because the government gives it back to you.
Hmmmm, is that right? Is there data for this somewhere? It would be an interesting phenomenon, if true. My personal experience had been that it's often as hard or even harder to find an English speaker in Germany or France than in Italy. You can find the details of the OECD methodology if you follow the link. That said, yes, measuring poverty is rather tricky, so all these numbers need to be taken with a pinch of salt. In terms of govt benefits, I am pretty sure that Western European countries offer more than in the US. Healthcare alone is a big deal and there's more.
It's as clear as day, I recommend doing some research on it. European countries with the most English speaking people have the highest standard of living per capita and best performing economies. Here's a graph to get you started https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language_in_Europe# Apparently in Norway, 90% speak English. Look up best countries to live 2017. The Scandinavian countries usually fill the top spots and they have the most English speaking out of countries where English is a 2nd language.