# GDP USA vs Germany

(according to Gemini, not verified, 2023 numbers)

According to GDP per capita, the US looks ~55% richer (\$81k vs \$52k) than Germany. Taking into account that Americans work longer hours and have an economy inflated by financial and resource sectors as well as more expensive healthcare and education, **the German economy seems ~15% more efficient per hour** at generating consumable value.

| Metric / Adjustment | United States 🇺🇸 | Germany 🇩🇪 | Comment |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| GDP Per Capita | $81,700 | $52,700 | Output per person |
| | | | |
| **GDP Per Hour** | **$87.00** | **$77.00** | Americans work ~34% more. |
| | | |
| | | | |
| (-) Oil & Gas Extraction | -$1.30 | -$0.04 | Natural Resource Rents |
| (-) FIRE Sector | -$18.27 | -$12.32 | Finance, Insurance, Real Estate |
| (-) Healthcare | -$14.79 | -$10.01 | ~17% vs ~13% |
| (-) Defense | -$3.05 | -$1.16 | *~3.5% vs ~1.5%* |
| (-) Social Friction | -$2.61 | -$1.31 | Police, Prisons, Legal |
| (-) Education | -$5.05 | -$3.70 | Workforce preparation |
| | | | |
| **Core Output / Hr** | **~$41.93** | **~$48.46** | **Consumable Value Created** |

## Discussion

**Rationale 1**: In this table, we treat Healthcare, Defense, Policing, and Education not as "economic output" (things we enjoy consuming), but as "System Maintenance Costs" (an economy with cheaper maintenance costs is more efficient). By subtracting the totale absolute spending in these categories for both countries, we are looking for the "Discretionary Surplus"—the value of goods and services left over for people to actually enjoy (cars, vacations, electronics, dining) after the "overhead" of running the country is paid.

Another way to look at the table is that the provision of public goods is more efficient in Germany. It could be interesting to add further public goods to the table.

**Rationale 2**: My point is not so much to defend a particular choice of categories. Everybody can pick their own. My main point is that the official numbers are also picked. Referring to the official numbers also involves a choice. Instead of narrowing down policy debates to the official numbers, we should have a debate about which numbers we want to pay attention to. Choosing the numbers is normative. This needs public debate. For example, should German economic policy try to compete with the US in terms of GDP per capita or should German economic policy build on the strength of its efficient provision of public goods?