Indian kid describes America

[Imran Siddiqui]

The issue in this whole thread really is that Lori is making a far more nuanced argument that HC can even comprehend.

(In addition, the whole Lux/Nor comparison was brought in because we wanted to make sure HC was talking about US vs. EU, not as opposed to any Euro country - so this tangent is kind of a silly one in general).

[Sava]

PFFT you guys are idiots
nobody ever made any wealth from LAND

THATS STUPID

[regexcellent]

The issue in this whole thread really is that Lori is making a very facile argument but I'm too dumb to realize it.

FTFY

[Lorizael]

According to wiki, America is rich because of the government. 14% of our GDP comes from federal, state, and local government.

[MRT144]

To continue, there are lots of places that have lots and lots of natural resources at their disposal and are still utter ****holes. The Congo. Russia. China. Yet they don't have our immense economy. And they aren't really catching up all that quickly (not nearly as quickly as Japan did, for instance), despite "not industrializing in a vacuum". The reason is fairly obvious.

They have **** governments?

[Hauldren Collider]

According to wiki, America is rich because of the government. 14% of our GDP comes from federal, state, and local government.

Oh my god. You're a moron. What even. You don't really understand the whole oil thing at all.

[Hauldren Collider]

They have **** governments?

Thank you! The point I've been making this whole time!

[Hauldren Collider]

The land is ****ing irrelevant. Japan doesn't have any land. Taiwan doesn't have any land. They're rich. China's poor. Russia's poor. Land has nothing to do with it. Jesus, you guys are being really obtuse.

Note that this doesn't mean land isn't valuable. It's just not why we're rich.

[MRT144]

The land is ****ing irrelevant. Japan doesn't have any land. Taiwan doesn't have any land. They're rich. China's poor. Russia's poor. Land has nothing to do with it. Jesus, you guys are being really obtuse.

Note that this doesn't mean land isn't valuable. It's just not why we're rich.

To be fair, Japan's industrialization was largely enabled by colonial adventures undertaken by Japan.

[giblets]

Again, looking only at our present GDP ignores the historical impact of our good land.

We were comparing present GDP in the first place, not GDP in the 1800's.

[Lorizael]

The land is ****ing irrelevant. Japan doesn't have any land. Taiwan doesn't have any land. They're rich. China's poor. Russia's poor. Land has nothing to do with it. Jesus, you guys are being really obtuse.

Your counter-examples demonstrate that you can achieve wealth without land, and that land doesn't guarantee wealth, not that land isn't a path toward wealth.

Note that this doesn't mean land isn't valuable. It's just not why we're rich.

It's a reason we're rich, not the reason. Again, I've been making that argument the entire time.

[giblets]

To be fair, Japan's industrialization was largely enabled by colonial adventures undertaken by Japan.

IS THIS WHY MOST OF JAPAN'S ECONOMIC GROWTH HAPPENED AFTER WWII??

[giblets]

.

[MRT144]

More importantly, who cares if Norway has oil as a huge part of their GDP. They're part of a subset of nations that rely on oil production for a large share of their economy - that doesn't make it irrelevant, it just doesnt make them comparable to the US or the Congo. You wouldnt categorically reject resource extraction and infrastructure as an outlier of reality if several nations have a similar GDP composition.

[Hauldren Collider]

Your counter-examples demonstrate that you can achieve wealth without land, and that land doesn't guarantee wealth, not that land isn't a path toward wealth.



It's a reason we're rich, not the reason. Again, I've been making that argument the entire time.

Your argument is nonsense. There are lots of reasons the Europeans are wealthy, too. What we're interested in is the meaningful difference TODAY between the EU and the US. It isn't ****ing natural resources. Jesus H. Christ. You're trying to make some historical argument about something that is purely contemporary.

However, natural resources IS the meaningful difference between Norway and the US and the rest of the EU.

As for your quip about government and % of GDP, 1) Norway's government is a much bigger part of their GDP, 2) the government doesn't consist of free money buried right beneath the ground.