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In article <C1F01w.HG4@newcastle.ac.uk> Adrian.Waterworth@newcastle.ac.uk (Adrian Waterworth) writes:

[stuff deleted]

>	Economy?  Now on that one, I really do have my doubts.  Having
>"an INCREDIBLY person-oriented service economy" does not seem to me to
>represent a sound indication of economic strength.  (To any economists
>out there, is there a correlation or not?)  As for the availability of
>different goods and services, I find it hard to believe that the range
>of products available in the US is so much greater than those in any
>other developed nation.  From a personal point of view, I cannot think
>of anything significant that I might want to obtain that I couldn't
>obtain here in the UK.  So, I think that this issue may present a much
>stickier wicket.  Particularly when one considers the economic strength
>that can be found in the far East - e.g. Japan.

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>
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>		 |  Adrian.Waterworth@newcastle.ac.uk	|
>		/ ---------------------------------------\


From the World Almanac and Book of Facts 1993:

Per capita GDP in U.S. dollars

United States - 21,800
Great Britain - 15,000
Canada - 19,500
Japan - 17,100
Germany - 14,600 (the inclusion of former E. Germany reduced this somewhat)
France - 15,500
Ireland - 9,690
Italy - 14,600

There is no question that Great Britain and other developed countries have the
same material goods as in the U.S. but they are MUCH more expensive.  I find
from personal experience that clothing is about twice as expensive there, food
almost as much.  Also, my friends there are surprised by the fact that my
family has two cars, with the financial ability to buy more if needed.  Things
which are so common here like CD players are readily available but quite 
expensive.  

Some British people think that the typical American family is like Roseanne's,
which I find quite amusing.  Also, being of Indian descent, some also assume
that none of us can speak English properly.  It has gotten markedly better
though in the last few years.  British wit on TV is ubiquitous -- only David
Letterman even comes close here.


-Abhijit

-- 
BHATTACHARYA,ABHIJIT
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332
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