Transcript WHAT’S THE ECONOMY FOR, ANYWAY? Part 3 of 3 Life Expectancy at Birth (2004) Rank 1 Spain (80.3) Rank 9 Netherlands (78.6) 2 Sweden (80.2) 10 Finland (78.5) 3 Italy (79.7) 11

WHAT’S THE
ECONOMY FOR,
ANYWAY?
Part 3 of 3
Life Expectancy at Birth
(2004)
Rank
1 Spain (80.3)
Rank
9 Netherlands (78.6)
2 Sweden (80.2)
10 Finland (78.5)
3 Italy (79.7)
11 United Kingdom (78.5)
4 France (79.4)
12 Ireland (78.3)
5 Greece (78.9)
13 Denmark (77.6)
6 Austria (78.8)
14 United States (77.5)
7 Belgium (78.8)
15 Portugal (77.4)
8 Germany (78.6)
Infant Mortality
Deaths Per 1,000 Live Births (2004)
Obesity
% of Total Population (2004)
Obesity
% of Total Population (2004)
Rank
1
United States (32.2)
2
United Kingdom
(23)
3
Greece (21.9)
4
Finland (14.1)
5
Spain (13.1)
6
Ireland (13)
7
Germany (12.9)
8
Portugal (12.8)
Rank
9
Belgium (12.7)
10
Netherlands (10.9)
12
13
13
14
Sweden (9.8)
France (9.5)
Denmark (9.5)
Austria (9.1)
15
Italy (9)
Are Americans Safe and Secure?
• The U.S. murder rate is about six times the
•
•
European rate
The U.S. child abuse rate is triple the European
rate
The U.S. incarceration rate is highest in world
Prison Population Rate
Number Per 100,000 Population
"The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by…its prisons.” -- Dostoyevski
800
725
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
66
70
81
82
85
88
91
96
97
97
123 129 138 139
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But We Have
the Most Stuff
• Americans produce the
most
stuff
Click this
image to see a 20minute, fast-paced, fact-filled
look at the underside
of our
• Americans
consume
the
production and consumption
patterns
most stuff
• And Americans waste the
this image to see a
most30Click
stuff
second add about U.S.
waste
So Americans Have More Stuff and Pay
Lower Taxes, But…
• We work much longer
• We’re not as healthy
• We have less time for family and friends
and leisure
• We are less safe
• And we’re more stressed out
Is this the greatest good?
What about Economic Opportunity?
• A child born poor in the US has less chance to end up
wealthy than in any European country except the UK.
• Danes have 3 times as much chance to move up the
income ladder; Swedes, Finns and French 2.5 times as
much chance
• Almost every European country has a larger percentage
of self-employed workers than the US
Economic Opportunity (cont)
• The US poverty rate is over 12%; average rate
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•
in Europe is 7%
The US child poverty rate is 21%; average in
Europe is 7%
The percentage of poor Americans living in
severe poverty reached a 32-year high in 2007
Gap between rich and poor in US is widest in
industrial world
Is this the greatest number?
American Inequality
There’s More . . .
• Americans now have net personal savings rate of -1%,
lower than any European country except Greece
• In 1970 Americans saved more of their incomes than
Europeans
• Since 1996, more Americans have declared personal
bankruptcy each year than graduated from college
• Americans rank near last among OECD countries in
income and pension security
What about Ecological
Sustainability?
Compared to the EU-15 countries
• The US has the largest Ecological
Footprint (negative impact on planet)
according to Global Footprint network
• The US is the least sustainable according
to UN Environment program
Is this the longest run?
In Conclusion…
• Is the U.S. economic model working well?
• By what measures?
• For whom?
• What questions do you have? Discuss them!
• Research and study the issues. Create your
•
•
own study group.
Ask your elected representatives, What’s the
Economy for Anyway?
What might YOU do to help change our
priorities?
What’s the Economy For,
Anyway?
A Project of the Center for Communication and Civic
Engagement, in association with the Forum on Social
Wealth, the Political Economy Research Institute, the
Center for Popular Economics, and with support from the
University of Washington and The Rockefeller Brother's
Fund
This slide show was created by Tim Jones,
John de Graaf, and Lloyd Jansen