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Ted Cruz

7 (6.5%)

Rick Santorum

16 (14.8%)

Michelle Bachmann

13 (12%)

Chris Christie

23 (21.3%)

Rand Paul

49 (45.4%)

Total Members Voted: 107

[Frumple]

#russiahappensinrussia #andthatisinfinitelymoreterrible

Can we stop now, or are we actually going to try to get into a pissing contest russia does not possess the bladder capacity to even attempt a showing in? Seriously, being outperformed by italy is just embarrassing.

[Sergarr]

I don't remember hearing about any economical achievements of Italy's economy. Also, we invaded a sovereign nation in Europe. Can Italy invade a sovereign nation in Europe? Does Italy even have a real military?

It doesn't matter if your GDP is 1000x higher if you don't have the political and military will to defend yourself.

[Reelya]

USA just likes to  believe that everywhere else is about to collapse to make their own shithole look better. What's actually happening is that advanced countries have absolutely massive wealth concentrations, and that's started to peak out, which shows up as zero / negative growth.

Median Wealth in Italy is TRIPLE that of the USA, and 2.5 times that of Germany!

They basically make most of America look like a huge ghetto. 50%+ of Americans are poorer than maybe the bottom 15% of Italy. I'm sure Italy could have USA's wonderful growth rates, by impoverishing the average person, destroying the middle class and funneling all the money into that "1%". Then, the US media might say "oh look the Italian economy has turned the corner and is growing!".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wealth_per_adult

Median wealth, Italy = $138,653. USA = $44,911
Debt Per Adult, Italy = $25,348, USA = $56,811

[LordSlowpoke]

that poland though

and slovakia

somebody give them more subsidies

[Helgoland]

I don't remember hearing about any economical achievements of Italy's economy. Also, we invaded a sovereign nation in Europe. Can Italy invade a sovereign nation in Europe? Does Italy even have a real military?

Sure, Italy can invade. They're usually not too successful, though.
There's a joke in Germany (which you shouldn't tell because it makes you seem a bit like a Nazi): Why do Italian tanks have rear-view mirrors? So they can see the front!

[Sergarr]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wealth_per_adult

Median wealth, Italy = $138,653. USA = $44,911
Debt Per Adult, Italy = $25,348, USA = $56,811

lol Iceland

Debt per adult = $163,008
Mean wealth per adult = $ 211,592

Talk about debt-intensive economy, the Icelanders seems to exploit it to the max.

[Reelya]

That's because Iceland's banks invested everything into the US property boom before the GFC. That paid off, but ended up backfiring big time.

[Frumple]

Italy actually seems to be doing pretty good, yeah. Russia seems to just be outright sucking, though. Not even on the list reelya was looking at (though the actual OECD website has average information -- russia is doing hilariously poorly -- but not median), and stuff like per capita gdp has them getting beat by such luminaries as Croatia, Seychelles (I don't even know where the hell that is), and latvia, depending on the source and metric.

As has been noted elsewhere, and one of the primary driving forces behind why putin is getting away with so much, the only people, outside of those russia is actively screwing with, that care about russia is russia. Which is kinda' why it could really stand to stay the buggery out of the USA politics thread. We don't care about russia, we don't actually give a damn about what russia does, and other than occasionally laughing at its idiotic tin-pot dictatorship shenanigans and its hopeless attempts at flailing around and trying to look important (which it can't, because its economy is effectively shit and its military is irrelevant to anyone that matters to western politics), russia is never a concern to the american political process. And almost certainly never will be. The soviet union is dead and gone, probably forevermore, and with it the meaningful impact on the world stage russia can actually make. It is now the eurasian equivalent to an OPEC nation, so far as the rest of the world is concerned.

[Sergarr]

Italy actually seems to be doing pretty good, yeah. Russia seems to just be outright sucking, though. Not even on the list reelya was looking at (though the actual OECD website has average information -- russia is doing hilariously poorly -- but not median), and stuff like per capita gdp has them getting beat by such luminaries as Croatia, Seychelles (I don't even know where the hell that is), and latvia, depending on the source and metric.

As has been noted elsewhere, and one of the primary driving forces behind why putin is getting away with so much, the only people, outside of those russia is actively screwing with, that care about russia is russia. Which is kinda' why it could really stand to stay the buggery out of the USA politics thread. We don't care about russia, we don't actually give a damn about what russia does, and other than occasionally laughing at its idiotic tin-pot dictatorship shenanigans and its hopeless attempts at flailing around and trying to look important (which it can't, because its economy is effectively shit and its military is irrelevant to anyone that matters to western politics), russia is never a concern to the american political process. And almost certainly never will be. The soviet union is dead and gone, probably forevermore, and with it the meaningful impact on the world stage russia can actually make. It is now the eurasian equivalent to an OPEC nation, so far as the rest of the world is concerned.

Breaking news: Ukraine doesn't matter in western european politics, despite the fact that most of Russian gas flows through it!

[Darvi]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wealth_per_adult

Whoa I'm the second-richest median person on that list.

How Southland managed to top that list, I have no idea. (They're probably threatening other countries to export their wildlife or something).

[wobbly]

I'm guessing it's one of those lists that factors in value of natural resources. Lots of resources/low population = high wealth. Hard to know without a clear explanation of how they calculate the figures.

[Reelya]

No it's definitely not a list that factors in resource value of the nation.

"Median" and "Mean" wealth are to do with personal wealth.
The net average wealth per adult in Australia is $US302000. Median wealth is $US219,505. Meaning, half the country's adults own at least $US219,505 in total assets.

Median household income here is $66000. A "median" couple will have a wealth of about $440,000, or 7 years income.

My guess is that the chart includes superannuation accounts as personal wealth (which by law your employer must pay 9% of your gross income, and you can't draw from until you retire). Plenty of older people end up with half a million or more stashed away in those accounts. They effectively add another 9% on top of your income, and Minimum wage in Australia is double that of the USA.

[Sindain]

*snip*

Breaking news: Ukraine doesn't matter in western european politics, despite the fact that most of Russian gas flows through it!

Breaking news: The U.S is part of Western Europe now.

[Sergarr]

US is certainly a part of NATO, which is a block that contains a lot of European countries, and this is a matter of NATO border security...

[Darvi]

No NATO borders have been breached yet, or are in any danger of being so, as far as I know.