海角大神

For years Americans have assumed that our hard-charging capitalism is better than the soft-hearted version found in Canada and Europe. American capitalism might be a bit crueler but it generates faster growth and higher living standards overall. Canada鈥檚 and Europe鈥檚 鈥渨elfare-state socialism鈥� is doomed. 聽

It was a questionable assumption to begin with, relying to some extent on our collective amnesia about the first three decades after World War II, when tax rates on top incomes in the U.S. never fell below 70 percent, a larger portion of our economy was invested in education than before or since, over a third of our private-sector workers were unionized, we came up with Medicare for the elderly and Medicaid for the poor, and built the biggest infrastructure project in history, known as the interstate highway system.

But then came America鈥檚 big U-turn, when we deregulated, de-unionized, lowered taxes on the top, ended welfare, and stopped investing as much of the economy in education and infrastructure.聽

Meanwhile, Canada and Europe continued on as before. Soviet communism went bust, and many of us assumed European and Canadian 鈥渟ocialism鈥� would as well.

That鈥檚 why recent data from the聽is so shocking.

The fact is, we鈥檙e falling behind. While median per capita income in the United States has stagnated since 2000, it鈥檚 up significantly in Canada and Northern Europe. Their typical worker鈥檚 income is now higher than ours, and their disposable income 鈥� after taxes 鈥� higher still.

It鈥檚 difficult to make exact comparisons of income across national borders because real purchasing power is hard to measure. But even if we assume Canadians and the citizens of several European nations have simply drawn even with the American middle class, they鈥檙e doing better in many other ways.

Most of them get free聽聽and subsidized聽. And if they lose their jobs, they get far more generous聽聽than we do. (In fact, right now聽of jobless Americans lack any unemployment benefits.)

If you think we make up for it by working less and getting paid more on an hourly basis, think again. There, at least聽paid vacation as the norm, along with聽, and聽.

We鈥檙e working an average of 4.6 percent more hours more than the typical Canadian worker, 21 percent more than the typical French worker, and a whopping 28 percent more than your typical German worker, according to聽compiled by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof.

But at least Americans are more satisfied, aren鈥檛 we? Not really. According to聽, Canadians and Northern Europeans are.

They also聽, their rate of infant mortality is lower, and women in these countries are far聽聽as result of complications in pregnancy or childbirth.

But at least we鈥檙e the land of more equal opportunity, right? Wrong. Their poor kids have a聽. While 42 percent of American kids born into poor families remain poor through their adult lives, only 30 percent of Britain鈥檚 poor kids remain impoverished 鈥� and even smaller percentages in other rich countries.

Yes, the American economy continues to grow faster than the economies of Canada and Europe. But faster growth hasn鈥檛 translated into higher living standards for most Americans.

Almost all our economic gains have been going to the top 鈥� into corporate profits and the stock market (more than a third of whose value is owned by the richest 1 percent). And into executive pay (European CEOs take home far less than their American counterparts).

America鈥檚 rich also pay much lower taxes than do the rich in Canada and Europe.

But surely Europe can鈥檛 go on like this. You hear it all the time: They can no longer afford their welfare state.

That depends on what鈥檚 meant by 鈥渨elfare state.鈥� If high-quality education is included, we鈥檇 do well to emulate them. Americans between the ages of 16 and 24聽among rich countries in literacy and numeracy. That spells trouble for the U.S. economy in the future.

They鈥檙e also doing more workforce training, and doing it better, than we are. The result is more skilled workers. 聽

Universal health care is another part of their 鈥渨elfare state鈥� that saves them money because healthier workers are more productive.

So let鈥檚 put ideology aside. The practical choice isn鈥檛 between capitalism and 鈥渨elfare-state socialism.鈥� It鈥檚 between a system that鈥檚 working for a few at the top, or one that鈥檚 working for just about everyone. Which would you prefer?