Hmmm .... very interesting read. Is it true though, the writer is suggesting to spend more than to save, to be economically growing? Your opinions?


http://www.khrido.com/express-discussion-comments/comment.aspx/Interesting-analysis-about-World-Economy-163-0

Japanese save a lot. They do not spend much. Also Japan exports far more than it imports. Has an annual trade surplus of over $100 billions. Yet Japanese economy is considered weak, even collapsing.

Americans spend, save little. Also US imports more than it exports. Has an annual trade deficit of over $400 billion. Yet, the American economy is considered strong and trusted to get stronger.

But where from do Americans get money to spend?

They borrow from Japan,China and even India.Virtually others save for the US to spend. Global savings are mostly invested in US,in dollars. India itself keeps its foreign currency assets of over $50 billions in US securities. China has sunk over $160 billion in US securities.

Japan 's stakes in US securities is in trillions ......

The GDP is the primary indicator used to gauge the health of a country's economy. It represents the total dollar value of all goods and services produced over a specific time period - you can think of it as the size of the economy.

Basically to measure the GDP, the calculation can be done in one of two ways: either you add up what everybody earned in a year, or you add up what everybody spent. Logically, both measures should arrive at roughly the same total.


I disagree with the word 'freely' in the following statement:-
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The US has taken over $5 trillion from the world. So,as the world saves for the US, Americans spend freely
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You cannot spend freely if the money has been borrowed, but you can if it has been earned.

I think earning and spending makes country's economy to boom rather than borrowing and spending.

I will always follow the following cycle

Earn-->Save--->Invest--->Spend

Here is some Info

GDP 2003
Data source: 2003 CIA World Factbook


1 World $ 49,000,000,000,000
2 United States $ 10,400,000,000,000
3 China $ 5,700,000,000,000
4 Japan $ 3,550,000,000,000
5 India $ 2,660,000,000,000
6 Germany $ 2,184,000,000,000
7 France $ 1,540,000,000,000
8 United Kingdom $ 1,520,000,000,000
9 Italy $ 1,438,000,000,000
10 Russia $ 1,350,000,000,000
11 Brazil $ 1,340,000,000,000
12 Korea, South $ 931,000,000,000
13 Canada $ 923,000,000,000
14 Mexico $ 900,000,000,000
15 Spain $ 828,000,000,000
16 Indonesia $ 663,000,000,000
17 Australia $ 528,000,000,000
18 Turkey $ 468,000,000,000
19 Iran $ 456,000,000,000
20 Netherlands $ 434,000,000,000
21 South Africa $ 432,000,000,000
22 Thailand $ 429,000,000,000
23 Taiwan $ 406,000,000,000
24 Argentina $ 391,000,000,000
25 Poland $ 368,100,000,000
26 Philippines $ 356,000,000,000
27 Pakistan $ 311,000,000,000
28 Belgium $ 297,600,000,000
29 Colombia $ 268,000,000,000
30 Egypt $ 268,000,000,000
31 Saudi Arabia $ 242,000,000,000
32 Bangladesh $ 239,000,000,000
33 Switzerland $ 231,000,000,000
34 Sweden $ 227,400,000,000
35 Austria $ 226,000,000,000
36 Ukraine $ 218,000,000,000
37 Malaysia $ 210,000,000,000
38 Greece $ 201,100,000,000
39 Hong Kong $ 186,000,000,000
40 Vietnam $ 183,000,000,000
41 Portugal $ 182,000,000,000
42 Algeria $ 167,000,000,000
43 Romania $ 166,000,000,000
44 Czech Republic $ 155,900,000,000
45 Denmark $ 155,500,000,000
46 Chile $ 151,000,000,000
47 Norway $ 143,000,000,000
48 Finland $ 136,200,000,000
49 Hungary $ 134,700,000,000
50 Venezuela $ 132,800,000,000
51 Peru $ 132,000,000,000
52 Israel $ 122,000,000,000
53 Ireland $ 118,500,000,000
54 Morocco $ 115,000,000,000
55 Nigeria $ 113,500,000,000
56 Kazakhstan $ 105,000,000,000
57 Singapore $ 105,000,000,000
58 Belarus $ 85,000,000,000
59 New Zealand $ 78,800,000,000
60 Sri Lanka $ 73,700,000,000
61 Burma $ 70,000,000,000
62 Slovakia $ 66,000,000,000
63 Uzbekistan $ 65,000,000,000
64 Tunisia $ 63,000,000,000
65 Syria $ 59,400,000,000
66 Iraq $ 58,000,000,000
67 Dominican Republic $ 53,000,000,000
68 United Arab Emirates $ 53,000,000,000
69 Sudan $ 52,900,000,000
70 Bulgaria $ 50,600,000,000
71 Ethiopia $ 50,600,000,000
72 Guatemala $ 48,000,000,000
73 Puerto Rico $ 45,700,000,000
74 Ghana $ 42,500,000,000
75 Ecuador $ 41,700,000,000
76 Libya $ 41,000,000,000
77 Croatia $ 38,900,000,000
78 Nepal $ 36,000,000,000
79 Slovenia $ 36,000,000,000
80 Kuwait $ 34,200,000,000
81 Congo, Democratic Republic of the $ 34,000,000,000
82 Costa Rica $ 32,300,000,000
83 Kenya $ 32,000,000,000
84 Uganda $ 31,000,000,000
85 El Salvador $ 30,000,000,000
86 Lithuania $ 29,200,000,000
87 Azerbaijan $ 27,000,000,000
88 Cameroon $ 27,000,000,000
89 Zimbabwe $ 27,000,000,000
90 Uruguay $ 26,500,000,000
91 Turkmenistan $ 26,000,000,000
92 Cuba $ 25,900,000,000
93 Serbia and Montenegro $ 25,300,000,000
94 Paraguay $ 25,000,000,000
95 Cote d'Ivoire $ 24,500,000,000
96 Jordan $ 22,800,000,000
97 Tanzania $ 22,500,000,000
98 Oman $ 22,400,000,000
99 Korea, North $ 22,000,000,000
100 Bolivia $ 21,000,000,000
101 Latvia $ 20,000,000,000
102 Luxembourg $ 20,000,000,000
103 Cambodia $ 19,700,000,000
104 Lebanon $ 19,300,000,000
105 Mozambique $ 19,200,000,000
106 Afghanistan $ 19,000,000,000
107 Honduras $ 17,600,000,000
108 Panama $ 17,300,000,000
109 Qatar $ 17,200,000,000
110 Angola $ 16,900,000,000
111 Senegal $ 16,200,000,000
112 Guinea $ 15,900,000,000
113 Yemen $ 15,700,000,000
114 Estonia $ 15,200,000,000
115 Botswana $ 15,100,000,000
116 Georgia $ 15,000,000,000
117 Albania $ 14,000,000,000
118 Burkina Faso $ 13,600,000,000
119 Kyrgyzstan $ 13,500,000,000
120 Mauritius $ 13,200,000,000
121 Nicaragua $ 12,800,000,000
122 Armenia $ 12,600,000,000
123 Namibia $ 12,600,000,000
124 Madagascar $ 12,600,000,000
125 Haiti $ 12,000,000,000
126 Trinidad and Tobago $ 11,100,000,000
127 Moldova $ 11,000,000,000
128 Chad $ 10,000,000,000
129 Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of $ 10,000,000,000
130 Jamaica $ 10,000,000,000
131 Laos $ 9,900,000,000
132 Bahrain $ 9,800,000,000
133 Mali $ 9,800,000,000
134 Cyprus $ 9,400,000,000
135 Rwanda $ 9,000,000,000
136 Zambia $ 8,900,000,000
137 Niger $ 8,800,000,000
138 Macau $ 8,600,000,000
139 Tajikistan $ 8,000,000,000
140 Togo $ 8,000,000,000
141 Bosnia and Herzegovina $ 7,300,000,000
142 Benin $ 7,300,000,000
143 Malawi $ 7,200,000,000
144 Gabon $ 7,000,000,000
145 Iceland $ 7,000,000,000
146 Malta $ 7,000,000,000
147 Brunei $ 6,500,000,000
148 Lesotho $ 5,600,000,000
149 Mauritania $ 5,300,000,000
150 Bahamas, The $ 5,200,000,000
151 Mongolia $ 5,000,000,000
152 Swaziland $ 4,800,000,000
153 Central African Republic $ 4,700,000,000
154 Fiji $ 4,700,000,000
155 Martinique $ 4,500,000,000
156 Somalia $ 4,100,000,000
157 Barbados $ 4,000,000,000
158 Burundi $ 3,800,000,000
159 Guadeloupe $ 3,700,000,000
160 Reunion $ 3,600,000,000
161 Liberia $ 3,500,000,000
162 Eritrea $ 3,300,000,000
163 Guam $ 3,200,000,000
164 New Caledonia $ 3,000,000,000
165 Sierra Leone $ 2,800,000,000
166 Bhutan $ 2,700,000,000
167 Guyana $ 2,700,000,000
168 Gambia, The $ 2,600,000,000
169 Congo, Republic of the $ 2,500,000,000
170 Netherlands Antilles $ 2,400,000,000
171 Virgin Islands $ 2,400,000,000
172 Bermuda $ 2,250,000,000
173 Jersey $ 2,200,000,000
174 Aruba $ 1,940,000,000
175 West Bank $ 1,700,000,000
176 Man, Isle of $ 1,600,000,000
177 Suriname $ 1,500,000,000
178 Andorra $ 1,300,000,000
179 French Polynesia $ 1,300,000,000
180 Guernsey $ 1,300,000,000
181 Belize $ 1,280,000,000
182 Cayman Islands $ 1,270,000,000
183 Equatorial Guinea $ 1,270,000,000
184 Maldives $ 1,250,000,000
185 Papua New Guinea $ 1,200,000,000
186 French Guiana $ 1,100,000,000
187 Greenland $ 1,100,000,000
188 Guinea-Bissau $ 1,100,000,000
189 Faroe Islands $ 1,000,000,000
190 Samoa $ 1,000,000,000
191 San Marino $ 940,000,000
192 Northern Mariana Islands $ 900,000,000
193 Monaco $ 870,000,000
194 Saint Lucia $ 866,000,000
195 Liechtenstein $ 825,000,000
196 Solomon Islands $ 800,000,000
197 Cyprus $ 787,000,000
198 Antigua and Barbuda $ 750,000,000
199 Gaza Strip $ 735,000,000
200 Seychelles $ 626,000,000
201 Djibouti $ 619,000,000
202 Cape Verde $ 600,000,000
203 Vanuatu $ 563,000,000
204 American Samoa $ 500,000,000
205 Gibraltar $ 500,000,000
206 Comoros $ 441,000,000
207 Grenada $ 440,000,000
208 East Timor $ 440,000,000
209 Dominica $ 380,000,000
210 Saint Kitts and Nevis $ 339,000,000
211 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines $ 339,000,000
212 British Virgin Islands $ 320,000,000
213 Micronesia, Federated States of $ 277,000,000
214 Tonga $ 236,000,000
215 Turks and Caicos Islands $ 231,000,000
216 Sao Tome and Principe $ 200,000,000
217 Palau $ 174,000,000
218 Marshall Islands $ 115,000,000
219 Cook Islands $ 105,000,000
220 Anguilla $ 104,000,000
221 Mayotte $ 85,000,000
222 Kiribati $ 79,000,000
223 Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) $ 75,000,000
224 Saint Pierre and Miquelon $ 74,000,000
225 Nauru $ 60,000,000
226 Wallis and Futuna $ 30,000,000
227 Montserrat $ 29,000,000
228 Saint Helena $ 18,000,000
229 Tuvalu $ 12,200,000
230 Niue $ 7,600,000
231 Tokelau $ 1,500,000

US is 1/5 of world GDP. It is 5 times India GDP and 1/3 the population . That makes it 15 times as rich as India in simple terms anyway.
US has 12 Trillion dollar economy now more than twice the size of its nearest competitor.It is the biggest consumer in the world and the biggest market. One of the major reasons for its power and it is so well managed that everybody invests in US$ and wants to have reserves in it.

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We will find a way or we will make one

Smiley, 2003 seems too old for economy and GDP statistics. Below is the latest, list of first 25 nations in 2006.

2006 - GDP nominal (per capita) by country
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)_per_capita

Rank Country GDP ($)per capita
1 Luxembourg 87,955
2 Norway 72,306
3 Monaco 67,000
4 Qatar 62,914
5 Iceland 54,858
6 Ireland 52,440
7 Switzerland 51,771
8 Denmark 50,965
9 United States 44,190
10 Sweden 42,383
11 Netherlands 40,571
12 Finland 40,197
13 United Kingdom 39,213
14 Austria 38,961
15 Canada 38,951
16 Belgium 37,214
17 Australia 36,553
18 France 35,404
19 Germany 35,204
20 Japan 34,188
21 United Arab Emirates 33,397
22 Italy 31,791
23 Kuwait 31,051
24 Brunei 30,298
25 Singapore 29,917

Ireland is the fastest growing economy, doing very well. Ireland is predicted to become #1 or 2, in the near future.
USA - 9th, Canada- 15th.

Source
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)_per_capita