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EU surpasses USA in GDP since January 1st
Juergen Hubert
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Registered User regular
According to the statistics of the IMF and the World Bank, anyway (though according to the CIA World Factbook statistics, the USA is still ahead). The new membership of Bulgaria and Romania pushed the EU to the top.
Of course, the global influence such economic power would translate into is mostly used up in internal squabbles between the individual member states, but such is life in Europe...
Of course, the global influence such economic power would translate into is mostly used up in internal squabbles between the individual member states, but such is life in Europe...
Juergen Hubert on
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I suggest the Federated States of Micronesia.
I mean, seriously, just look at that name. It's just so sinister-sounding. How much longer will Europe continue to ignore the clear continental security threat posed by the Federated States of Micronesia?
I dunno - I've heard of a lot of countries. It will be hard to find some we are completely unaware of.
United States - population 300 million
European Union - population 460 million
US GDP growth 2006 - 3.3%
EU GDP growht 2006 - 2.6%
*sarcastic clapping*
Well, the GDP of the EU can still grow faster than that of the USA in the future - all we need is gobble up new members fast enough...
How has Merkel been doing? I know that the eastern nations are growing pretty well. I've more or less given up on France.
Germany always seems like it might get going again though.
I'm not really happy with what she has been doing. On one hand, lots of needed reforms just don't seem to happen, despite the fact that the current coalition government has a very stable majority. On the other hand, the government pushed through an absolutely needless 3% VAT hike "to consolidate government finances" despite the fact that government earnings are strongly on the upswing anyway for a change. (In my opinion, if you have to increase taxes, it should be done with fuel and energy taxes, since that encourages people and companies to be innovative with reducing reliance on limited resources, instead of VAT, which just chokes consumer spending in general.)
Apart from that, the economy is actually doing fairly well at the moment. Germany has been the world's leading export nation for several years in a row, and the companies are finally starting to hire again - in fact, now they have problems finding people with the skills they need. That doesn't help the average long-term unemployed, but it is a start...
Or we could just be more effective with our resourcing and work better together as an actually European Union, whilst keeping more jobs within the countries and therefore having more profit coming back into the EU....
......
......
HaHaHaHaHaHAHAHAHAHAHA!
...aaaaah *wipes tear away* I slay me!
I don't see how this really means anything at all. The EU is not a single entity in any way except on paper. In fact, the fact that without Bulgaria and Romania the GDP of every member nation combined was LESS that the GDP of the USA, a single nation, speaks far more than this.
Adding more countries and getting a higher number doesn't make the US any less powerful in the world economy.
Marijuana is a good example, I believe it's legal in at least some of the EU nations. There might be other things.
The pot industry in America is pretty profitable, but of course it isn't counted in our GDP.
Edit: Prostitution is also onlylegal in Nevada here, so that's another one that I think might be legal in some EU countries but (for the most part) is left out of our GDP.
If you're thinking about amsterdam, then it's still illegal it's just tolerated more. And besides, doesn't the money made from these things trickle into the GDP anyhow because it allows for more consumption.
the way i see it is that if it takes 27 of them to make one of us, we still win!
How high is VAT/taxes in general in Germany?
Now it is 19% for most things, though books, food, and a couple of other items still have a reduced rate of 7%.
Don't see why not.
Unless they merge into a single SuperEurope country, they're still just indavidual nations who have formed a trade group with each other.
The EU is a lot different from the EEC.
I have a feeling that theory doesn't entirely hold up.
True to a point, which is why it's more relevant to compare stats a la Shinto.
The population of the EU is 50% higher than that of the US. Their GDP, then, should be 50% higher than that of the US. It isn't. It's just about equal.
GDP isn't the only thing that makes a nation economically powerful, and so the fact that the EU's is just now passing the US's is neither impressive nor remarkable.
But I think this economic measurement is really a way of highlighting not their relative economic power, but the incredible achievement of their economic and political integration.
I'm just talking about the fact that, ideally, being in Texas and doing business with someone in Maryland is the same as being in France and doing business with someone in Estonia. That is, comparing the U.S. to the EU is valid and not the same as saying "27 random countries have a combined GDP larger than the U.S."
How does illegal activity allow for more consumption any more than legal activity? Marijuana and Prostitution arenot intermediate goods or services, so, if there WERE legal, they'd be counted in GDP. Since they aren't legal, but might bein some European countries, I was just pointing out that these results, which do not look to good on Europe, do not even include those "industires" for the US.
If I'm wrong about them being legal SOMEWHERE then ignore my point.
Yes and no.
Living here in Maryland, Texas might be far away, but I also recognize it as part of my same country. If I decide it is important for me "Buy American", there is no difference to me between a supplier in Maryland versus a suplier in Texas.
I don't see the same kind of Nationalism displayed towards the EU in it's entirety, just within the individual nations to themselves.
Also, are any sort of importing or exporting taxes or fees waived between members of the EU?
Sounds kind of counter-productive. If you NEED the increased tax revenue, then you want to put the increased taxes on something that you know will continue to bring in that revenue for you. Putting taxes on something in order to encourage reduction in its usage would also lead to reduction i the ammount of tax revenue from it, defeating the purpose.
Taxing something as a deterent can be a very useful tactic, but not when you are increasing taxes because you need the revenue.
It has nothing to do with "nationalism". To do business between France and Estonia is intended to be as easy as doing business between Texas and Maryland. If you are Irish and you decide you want to work in Spain, it is as easy as moving from New York to Georgia and taking a new job there, and completely different from moving from Brazil and looking for work in Germany. Or at least that is the intention.
Yeah, it's only Switzerland (not part of the EU) where buying/selling is totally legal. Netherlands it's illegal to possess/buy/sell but ignored. In Spain it's legal to grow for home use but illegal to buy/sell.
And I can't see how you can argue on prostitution since the laws are always weird, and it's just as legal in places in the U.S. as it is in places in the E.U.
Overall though, neither of these would make much life altering differences to the value of the GDP for either block though.
And my point was not that you get more money from it, but that money ends up going somewhere else eventually anyways. I might sell you the drugs, but I still end up spending that money on things that contribute towards the GDP? It's not like the U.S. has an entire black market I could live off
That's why I asked.
Anyway, I see your point, but I think there is some small difference between business across seperate states in the US and seperate countries in the EU. It may be minimal difference, but I get the feeling something is there. In the US state governments don't fight with each other, for one. State Congressmen and Senators might, but that is wholely seperate from the legislators that run the states.
Also, does what you are saying mean that any citizen of any EU nation is automatically entitled to citizenship in any other EU nation as soon as they move there?
I understand, but my point, in response, was that the same could be said for Televisions, or Apples, or Dog Walking Services. The portion of the revenue that ultimately goes to the employees in any of these situations doesn't just stop there, it goes somewhere else too.
I mean, I know that Europeans in general know more languages than us, but I doubt anyone speaks all the languages used in the EU.
My understanding is that the language issue is a pretty big problem. That is to say, when the EU makes a proclamation, they do it originally in something like French, English, or German, and then they have translators put it into the other languages. Problem is, they don't have people who know every combination of two languages, so for people in Estonia, their shit is sometimes translated from French -> English -> Estonian, and that's when shit gets freaky.
Basically, an Italian citizen can live and work in Belgium without having to worry about citizenship, a visa, etc.
Yes, but those aren't structural issues or government enforced barriers. If I wanted to work in the U.K. I wouldn't need to deal with a new language or a different legal system, but I would have a lot of trouble with getting a work visa and everything else (the things the Irishman doesn't need to go through).
Yeah, language barriers could even get in the way of simple business deals.
Right, which is the entire point of GDP. Or have I missed something.