As much as I agree with the idea that Americans need to understand finance (not the same as capitalism), the real thing the need to understand is how underperforming we are as a society in almost every metric. And then we need to at long last take a genuinely empirical look around. The USA is at or near the bottom of the OECD countries on almost all metrics: from trade and economics to human wellness to social wellness. The country I typically like to use for comparison is Germany. Yes, that social democracy. That does seem to be much better at capitalism in its presumably most important objective: deliver the best standard of living, security and quality of life to the largest number of its citizens. And Germans as a people are largely ignorant of the capital markets: only 14% of Germans own any equity versus 54% of Americans. And you will pass years in German society without hearing anyone talk about investing.... unless its one of the few professionals that are involved. And if you look at my comparisons below, you'll start to understand what we as Americans really need to understand.
Feel free to pass it on.
FUN FACTS COMPARING GERMANY TO USA
BUDGETS
- German Federal Budget 2010-2020: 6 surpluses, 1 breakeven, 1 deficit (2020 because of COVID, subsidizing all salaries at 60%)
- US Federal Budget: Last surpluses under B. Clinton 1998-2001, 2002 Bush takes over and....down it goes
TRADE BALANCES
-German Balance of Trade: Never had a deficit
-US Balance of Trade: Last surplus was 1975
-Germany has a near complete balance of
IMMIGRATION/DIVERSITY
-W. Germany's absorption of E. Germany was the economic equivalent of the US absorbing Mexico
-Before the absorption of the 1.2mm ME immigrants, in 2014, 1/5 of Germany are immigrants, mostly Turkish, E. European, and S. European
HAPPINESS
-Usually between 2nd and 3rd fewest workweeks in the world: 34.7/year vs. 43 for the US
-6 weeks federally mandated vacation, plus a minimum of 12 public holidays with typically more than that (usually between 2nd and 3rd fewest workweeks in the world: 34.7/year vs. 43 for the US)
-universal means-tested, hybrid public/private HIGHER quality healthcare than US
-fully funded federal retirement
-Education pre-school to graduate/post-graduate degree or professional/practical training and internships FREE and PAID.
-basically, the most unionized country on earth or tied for that honor
INFRASTRUCTURE
-renewable energy federal investment to 2015: $150bb, the equivalent of the US investing $1.9TT, currently invests ~$12b/year
-renewable energy: 51% in 2020, USA: 20%
-comprehensive fast, clean, comfortable, convenient, affordable public transportation
-top quality infrastructure...best roads, bridges, tunnels, etc. in the world by all measures
2020 COMPARATIVE BASE METRICS
German Population: 80.62mm
US Population: 318mm
German Land mass: 137,983 mi² (slightly smaller than Montana)
USA Land mass: 3.797 million mi² (27 times larger than Germany)
German Natural Resources: small amount of coal, tiny amount of oil, otherwise practically none, agricultural "museum"
US Natural Resources: Vast oil, gas, ore and other mining, timber, vast coast line with fisheries, vast agriculture
German GDP: 3.86TT
USA GDP: 21.43TT
German Average Lifespan 80.89 years
USA Average Lifespan 78.54 years
ECONOMY
German net average single worker tax rate: 38.9%
USA net average single worker tax rate: 14.6%
German CEO-to-Worker pay ratio 2020: 136 to 1
USA CEO-to-Worker pay ratio 2020: 265 to 1
German Manufacturing as a percentage of GDP (excluding construction): 19.11%
US Manufacturing as a percentage of GDP including construction): 11.39%
German Manufacturing employment as a percentage of employment: 26.78
US Manufacturing employment as a percentage of employment: 8.5%
German Export Size vs. US: in 2011 and 2013, out-exported the US. Prior to 2009, regularly out-exported the US and China
German Exports 2020: $1.489 trillion
US Exports 2020: $1.665 trillion
German Trade Surplus with China 2020: + $22.2BB
USA Trade Deficit with China 2020: $310BB
USA Total Trade Balance 2020: minus $678.7BB
German Total Trade Balance 2020: plus $261BB
German Top 10 Exports:
Machinery including computers: US$260.7 billion (17.5% of total exports)
Vehicles: $243.7 billion (16.4%)
Electrical machinery, equipment: $158.7 billion (10.7%)
Pharmaceuticals: $90.4 billion (6.1%)
Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $79.3 billion (5.3%)
Plastics, plastic articles: $63.2 billion (4.3%)
Aircraft, spacecraft: $42.3 billion (2.8%)
Mineral fuels including oil: $34.2 billion (2.3%)
Articles of iron or steel: $31.3 billion (2.1%)
Other chemical goods: $26.3 billion (1.8%)
US Top 6 Exports:
Machinery including computers: US$361.6 billion (15% of total imports)
Electrical machinery, equipment: $343.5 billion (14.3%)
Vehicles: $254.4 billion (10.6%)
Pharmaceuticals: $139.5 billion (5.8%)
Mineral fuels including oil: $130.1 billion (5.4%)
Gems, precious metals: $107 billion (4.4%)
Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $90.9 billion (3.8%)
Furniture, bedding, lighting , signs, prefab buildings: $65.5 billion (2.7%)
Plastics, plastic articles: $62.5 billion (2.6%)
Organic chemicals: $55.9 billion (2.3%)
VARIOUS SOURCES
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/germany/government-budgethttps://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/https://data.oecd.org/https://data.worldbank.org/imf.org/en/Datahttp://www.worldstopexports.com/https://www.bioenergyconsult.com/https://tradingeconomics.com/germany/balance-of-tradehttps://www.destatis.de/EN/Home/_node.html
etc.
