American Success Story
Why is America so rich? Nov 9th 2010, 13:50 by R.A. | LONDON ECONOMIC gloom and doom aside, America remains the world's richest large country. It's generally estimated to have a per capita GDP level around $45,000, while the richest European nations manage only a $40,000 or so per capita GDP (setting aside low population, oil-rich states like Norway). Wealth underlies America's sense of itself as a special country, and it's also cited as evidence that America is better than other economies on a range of variables, from economic freedom to optimism to business savvy to work ethic. But why exactly is America so rich? Karl Smith ventures an explanation: I am going to go pretty conventional on this one and say a combination of three big factors The Common Law Massive Immigration The Great Scientific Exodus during WWII You’ll notice that four of the top five countries in the Human Development Index have the Common Law and the top, Norway, is a awash in oil. W...