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Economic Welfare Comparisons: Australia, the United States and the European Union
Author(s) -
Lombard Marc
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
economic papers: a journal of applied economics and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.245
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1759-3441
pISSN - 0812-0439
DOI - 10.1111/j.1759-3441.2009.00017.x
Subject(s) - purchasing power parity , gross domestic product , welfare , economics , european union , poverty , per capita , human development index , purchasing power , index (typography) , economic union , distribution (mathematics) , per capita income , economic power , development economics , international economics , international trade , economic growth , exchange rate , human development (humanity) , macroeconomics , political science , politics , market economy , population , demography , sociology , world wide web , computer science , law , mathematical analysis , mathematics
Comparison of countries’ standard of living are often based on gross domestic product per capita, whether at market exchange rates or at purchasing power parity, and/or the United Nations’ Human Development Index. Yet, these statistical instruments do not provide an accurate picture of economic welfare comparisons. They ignore a number of essential factors determining economic welfare, such as income distribution, poverty levels, work–time ratio, and welfare provisions, among others. This paper examines these factors and others, to make some pertinent economic welfare comparisons between Australia, the United States, and the European Union and its leading economies.