Paul Krugman recently made this facile argument for European-style socialism:
For those Americans who have visited Paris: did it look poor and backward? What about Frankfurt or London? You should always bear in mind that when the question is which to believe — official economic statistics or your own lying eyes — the eyes have it.
You don’t need a whole lot of economic insight to spot the problem there: Paris, Frankfurt, and London are three of the riches places in Europe. They’re not at all representative.
But Tino Sanandaji makes an even more interesting point. European-Americans produce far more than their European cousins:
The GDP per capita for Americans from EU.15 is $53,000, compared to $33,500 for EU.15 itself. Those of European descent in America on average produce 58.6% more than they do in Europe.
(Hat tip to Steve Sailer.)