15Bit
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Quite true, but at risk of repeating the obvious - "Europe" is not a country. Despite much of the discussion here, "Europe" does not warrant comparison with the US. The population of "Europe" is 800 million plus, the population of the US is about 300 million. Some European countries are only a few years old, and some of these are struggling to survive as independent entities. You also point out a further distinction that, in terms of demographics, the poverty we are discussing is more country-based in Europe, and more homogeneously distributed in the US (not to say there aren't poor states, but i doubt any of them can rival todays Moldovan example of grinding poverty). So comparing "Europe" in this sense with the US is simply ridiculous.
Just to remind everyone, we are discussing the relative costs of expensive consumer luxury items, so whilst i agree with Lars' observations that much of Europe is (sadly) poor, the 5 dollar a day Moldovans are unlikely to be much of a market to Canon anyway and do not really enter this discussion.
So again, if you want a reasonably fair comparison, the Euro-currency countries are probably the best. A population in the 300-350 million range which can boast some sort of federalised monetary policy and open trade borders. They can also boast reasonably homogeneous laws too, along with a similarly broad range of cultures as the US. You could even argue that this choice leaves out the statistical outliers - the insanely poor countries (moldova) and the insanely rich ones (Monaco), as well as the most extremely socialist (scandinavia) and probably the most capitalist (the UK). However, in the context of the original topic of discussion here, i must admit that the eurozone choice is still a bit of an over simplification.
python2000 wrote:
15Bit wrote:
Define "average"...
But, the numbers do not reflect the generally more polarised distribution of wealth in the US though - very few people actually earn the US median income, most earn much more or much less.
I have one nit with this assessment. Certainly the US is more "polarised" than individual European countries (due mostly to the higher level of homogeneity within an individual European country's borders), but I doubt the US income distribution is much more "polarised" than Europe as a whole - when you take into account the contrast between the Norways and the Moldovas.
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