"Dead, Dying And Poor" In America

From The Brussels Journal: EU Economies: Poor Reporting

In visiting some of my favorite blogs I noticed one component was missing from my recent “dead and dying in America” series, the series should have been “dead, dying, and poor in America”. These anti-US themes are part and parcel of the mainstream media (MSM)’s core beliefs on both sides of the Atlantic, a template if you will. Dead, dying, and poor Americans fits the MSM template far better than “alive, vibrant, and prospering” Americans. But are the anti-US pronouncements by the MSM true? . . . . .

As you can see from the chart on your right (sources: Eurostat and the Bureau of Economic Analysis) on a strictly per capita GDP basis EU-15 countries generally rank near the bottom when compared to the individual US states and the District of Columbia in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). Per capita GDP is of course no measure of poverty, but it is a clue. . . . . .

What about defined rates of poverty? Per our friends at the BBC referenced above, the US defined rate of poverty is currently 12.7% of the population. Horrifying. According to Eurostat the EU-15 defined rate of poverty was 16% of the population in 2001. To be overlooked. . . . . .

Read the article for the complete analysis of the statistics.