zlacker

US population 330m gdp/capita 59k

--Higher GDP European state--

Switzerland pop: 8.5m gdp/capita: 65k -- reputation as a tax haven

Ireland pop: 6.5m gdp/capita: 69k -- reputation as a tax haven

Norway pop: 5.3m gdp/capita: 85k -- petrostate

Iceland pop: 364,260 gpd/capita: 54,753

Monaco pop: 37,497 gdp/capita: 162k -- french riviera

--Most populous Western Europe nations--

Germany pop: 82m gdp/capita: 44k

France pop: 67m gdp/capita: 38k

UK pop: 66m gdp/capita: 39k

Italy pop: 60m gdp/capita: 32k

Look I'm all for a larger welfare state, and there are plenty of things our nation could learn from Europe. But to pretend that if we made our country more European our economy would grow to resemble a tiny nation/tax haven like Ireland more than the UK, France, or Germany is unrealistic.

>>JamesB+(OP)
Thank you for pulling up the numbers. It seemed very suspicious when the comment above selected the smallest EU states.

>>JamesB+(OP)
> Ireland pop: 6.5 million

Reality: 4.8 million

>>anigbr+Cd
Oh yeah it looks like the number I found was for the island not the country.

>>JamesB+Rf
Yeah, the problem is you double-counted the population there due to also including the UK. I didn't check the others.