patrickctrombly asked:


I’ve read studies purporting to show that other countries or regions – other economies – have a higher standard of living than the US.

The fault I find with these studies is that they all first pre-define “standard of living” in terms of specific factors, which in economic terms represent specific purchases made through mandatory tax levels higher than those in the US. If the federal government began a music program in which it took money from everyone and provided us each with a CD, it could do that cheaper than we buy our own CDs- it could provide us each with a Miles Davis CD for $8 instead of $15. That would improve my standard of living. But if YOU don’t like jazz, YOU’RE out the whole $15. You might not like hiking trails either and you might not get sick often.

“Standard of living” in terms of specific items is subjective – the only objective measure is choice, which in economic terms means per capita income and wealth. Any other measure is a mere contrivance.

Jose