H - I agree; it would be interesting to examine how access to medical care effects quality of life in the U.S. versus Europe. Keep in mind that, although Europeans have easier access to medical care, I've read that the quality of that care is significantly lower than in the U.S. I need to find a study about that though.

Debt is another important issue, and I haven't read any comparisons between the two areas.

At this point, what we do know is:

1) The average poor American has better living conditions than the average (non-poor!) European. See my post of June 1, 2005 discussing the Swedish study which demonstrated this. (I would link it, but I can't get the links to work.)
2) The EU average GDP per capita is lower than 46 of the 50 American states. The average GDP per capita in the EU is higher than the average only in Arkansas, Mississippi, Montana and West Virginia. (See 6/1/2005 as well.)
3) American workers have as much leisure time as German workers, if not even more, if you combine paid and unpaid work. See my post on February 7, 2006 discussing this.
4) Demography is very important. Not only are birth rates down tremendously (read the piece by Mark Steyn I linked on 1/11/2006), but as Steyn points out in a piece today in The Australian,

The countries cited are going out of business. Seventeen European nations are now at what demographers call "lowest-low" fertility - 1.3 births per woman, the point at which you're so far down the death spiral you can't pull out.

In theory, those countries will find their population halving every 40 years or so. In practice, it will be quicker than that, as the savvier youngsters figure there's no point sticking around a country that's turned into one big undertaker's waiting room: not every pimply burger flipper is going to want to work himself into the ground to pay for new shuffleboard courts at the old folks' home.

In other words, young people will leave these countries in droves to avoid paying the enormous costs involved in supporting their older population, thus accelerating the demographic downward trend.

On another related note, it looks like China will never become a "hyper-power" to rival the United States. Why? Steyn again: Its population will get old before it gets rich.
More detail on that here.

Interesting times we live in...
C
- posted by Christoph Roggenkamp @ 2/16/2006 05:22:00 PM