Question

A number of figures illustrate the difference. Governments in the European Union earn, on average, about 45 per cent of gross domestic product, compared with less than 30 per cent in the US. As a result, European governments are able to fund universal access to health care, higher education, family support and job training that the US cannot guarantee. European countries topped the World Happiness Report's life satisfaction ranking, while the United States came in at 19. In 2019, life expectancy in the European Union was 81.1 years, compared with 78.8 in the United States. As of 2019, the share of national income earned by the top 1 percent of households in Western Europe was about 11 percent, compared with nearly 20 percent in the United States. In 2019, the US emitted 16.1 tonnes of carbon dioxide per person, compared with less than 10 tonnes in the European Union.

Answer 1

The U.S. spends more on healthcare relative to its GDP than other developed countries but has poorer outcomes, indicating inefficiency. High GDP per capita does not guarantee a higher standard of living, as GDP does not account for factors like health and leisure that impact wellbeing.

Step-by-step explanation:

The United States healthcare system is an outlier when it comes to spending vs. outcomes. Despite allocating 17% of GDP to health care, outcomes such as life expectancy and infant mortality rates are worse compared to countries spending less. This disconnect highlights that higher healthcare spending does not automatically equate to better health outcomes and indicates inefficiencies within the U.S. system.

Moreover, a high GDP per capita in the U.S. does not necessarily imply a superior standard of living as compared to other nations like Germany, where workers enjoy more leisure time. GDP fails to capture qualitative dimensions of life such as leisure, health, education, and environmental quality, which play a significant role in the actual standard of living. Therefore, while the GDP offers a measure of economic performance, it does not fully encompass the broader characteristics that contribute to a population's wellbeing.