We are coming out of the Great Recession, slowly but surely. So, what's the attitude regarding national satisfaction or non-satisfaction with their lot in life. Pew Research has done the research (from here), asking the question: "How well off am I compared to before?" Most European think they are "better off" than "worse off". In America, the opinion is split, with a tiny fraction thinking they are more worse-off than better-off. So let's look at those rankings comparatively (from here): Countries - worse/better Germany - 20/65 Netherlands - 19/64 Sweden - 23/64 Poland - 21/62 Spain - 28/60 UK - 31/45 USA - 41/37 France - 40/33 Italy - 50/23 It is clear from the above that Americans think they are worse-off more so than the Europeans. Why might that be? I think it is because higher comparative taxation in the EU allows countries to "take better care" of their population when the dynamics of a market-economy are tripped by a thing called the "Great Recession" (2008/2014) ...
