Current Events — HabitableZone

Current Events » in reply to Re: Re: Re: "Canada, Sweden, and Norway"

Per Capita
TB — (archived)

When discussing any particular resource, natural or economic, "per capita" can be misleading. Obviously the United States makes a bigger dent in the world's energy than Sweden does, despite Sweden having a larger per-capita consumption. This is probably the point they were making, and it's a valid one. But I was trying to theorize what the planetary energy load would be if everyone used as much as the West does, and in that math, you have to use per capita.

In a similar vein, it's obviously easier to provide free health care, fix all the roads, run public transit, and do other wonderful things when your nation is a fraction of the size and/or population of the United States. China is socialist, and very large, but most people forget that a huge portion of that population is still living in rural poverty.

Log in or register to post.

The whole thread (39 posts)

Related discussions