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Comment by ExoticPearTree | Hacker News Reader

> The effect of this is visible, e.g. when you look at efficiency of e.g. german workers compared to their US counterparts.

Can you please then explain to me how ~ 332mm people in the US are more productive than ~448mm people in the EU by almost 5 trillion dollars if the Americans are less efficient?

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It's because Europe has a higher proportion of retired people, and European workers get more holidays, better pensions and better unemployment benefits. When you work out the productivity per hour worked, Europe comes out ahead: https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2023/10/04/producti...

What exactly you measure when you measure "amount of people X by almost X trillion dollars"? How did you manage to arrive at a number that supposedly means productivity of individual employees?

I compared the whole of the EU with the whole of the US in terms of people and GDP and it the numbers say the US is performing better than the EU with a third less people.

I'm measuring the success of the US economic model with the EU economic model and the US one is winning by a lot.

So you mean that GDP is a measurement of the productivity of employees?

And you're measuring "success" of a economic model just based on how it increases GDP? What about lowly things like "life expectancy" or other things related to, you know, actual human lives?

I knew USAians were "corporate and financials"-horny but this takes it to a whole other level.

Number go up, all that matters.

It is simple, US south was also more productive before 13th amendment to USA constitution in 1865.

In EU we try very hard not to bet our economy well-being on slave workforce - and we are not very good at that (Spain / south Italy vegetables production) but we still didn't slave the whole continent for corporation goals.

In USA, most of workforce are slaves to their corroborative/stock masters.

Don't get a nudge to protest. It is OK with me, it was your choice, not mine. On the other hand, I will rather leave to China then go working for USA slave system, even if I would be able to have a few Mexican slaves for me. I know it is my problem, I just don't believe in slavery. Sorry its about having ethics, parents raised me wrong /s.

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