Current Events:  “Best” Countries — United States Ranks #3, behind #1 Switzerland & #2 Japan.

https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/what-are-the-best-countries-of-2024/?utm_campaign=KatW_Weekly2024&utm_medium=email&utm_source=kw_pardot&utm_term=12-18-2024&utm_content=What_Are_the_Best_Countries_of_2024

Caveats:  1^st, the rankings are based on a public opinion poll (17,000 people from 36 countries).  2^nd, “best” is in the eye of the beholder.  But the criteria and their weightings are transparent and, from my perspective, sensible.

One thing that caught my eye was that none of the top 10 are autocracies.

I’m a fan of GDP because economic size and prosperity underpin national security and social progress.  Bigger is better. 

 

The good news:  The US and EU economies are overwhelmingly large, together 2.6X China and 22X Russia (yes, 22).

US GDP is $29.2T (trillion), the EU’s is $19.4T, China’s is $18.3T, India’s is $3.9T, and Russia’s is $2.2T.  (Source:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal))

US GDP per capita is $86.6K (thousand), the EU’s is $43.4K, Russia’s is $15.0K, China’s is $13.0K, and India’s is $2.7K.  (Source:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)_per_capita)

 

The bad news:  China is already big and is growing 3X faster.

The 10-year annual growth rate of US real GDP is 2.3%, China’s is 6.1%, India’s is 6.0%, and Russia’s is 1.2%.  I estimate the EU at about 1.7%.  (Source:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_real_GDP_growth_rate)

If we want to stay ahead of China … if GDP growth depends on population growth … and if birth/death rates can’t be changed much, the US and the EU need more immigrants to accelerate economic growth.  As I’ve “preached” before, a lot more immigrants:  all legal, some selfless (aka humanitarian) and some selfish, sucking up as many of the world’s IQ points as possible.  (I can hear the mass deportation critics.  It seems to me that if deportation is handled smartly … a big if … we will deport illegal immigrants who are proven violent criminals and unproductive.  And, yes, to make up for that loss, we will need even more immigrants.)