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If you asked a European to work 30% more, make 50% more, but spend 2h of their day commuting in a $80,000 pickup truck listening to fitness podcasts, they'd decline in disgust.
yup, 100%.
And the flipside, too:
- if you asked an American to take a 50% cut to disposable income, have some extra free time and (paid) time off, severely restricted access and range of option to health care and a much less vibrant economic and social environment, with more or less double unemployment, I think they'll mostly be equally disgusted.
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It's incredibly difficult to measure welfare, and while it is strongly correlated with GDP, there are some important exceptions. If you asked a European to work 30% more, make 50% more, but spend 2h of their day commuting in a $80,000 pickup truck listening to fitness podcasts, they'd decline in disgust.
Americans are wealthier, but the price to participate in society is also so much higher. You need a car to get groceries, an Uber to get home from the bar, and your vacation costs triple because it's short and you need to take it when everyone else is taking it. There are thousands of little examples like this.