“The United States is economically ahead of Europe, but life is better here.”

About the episode

It has been clear for some time that the United States is performing better economically than Europe, according to macroeconomist Edin Mujagic. But the fact that the gap between the two superpowers has increased in recent years is a worrying observation. Although Europeans find it difficult to resist “the temptation to be negative,” he says.

I also participate in it myself. But at the end of the last week of 2023, a great article appeared on the front page of Het Financieele Dagblad, which may lead to more optimism when you look at Europe.

Please note: It is not that everything is going well in one place in the world and that everything is going wrong in our country. In fact, a lot of good things have happened – it just depends on what you emphasize. So, if you conclude that the United States is doing better economically, and has done better compared to Europe in recent years, you have to look at why that is.

What are the economic indicators that precede it?

Take global prosperity as an example, it has increased dramatically in recent decades. It then begs the question of what choices we have made with this additional prosperity. What did we spend it on? The choice in Europe was very different in a number of important areas from that in the United States.