Source/Full Article.

Other countries, take note. Don't spend too much money, otherwise this is what you get.

and that includes a few pretty poor countries

yeah, well, good I guess

they got owned.
but I still hope England doesn't adopt the euro

Dollar is fail
We just spent $1003.31 for 625 euros when i go to Germany in may.
Grats europeans, you deserve it

DAMNIT BUSH !@@@@@. JUST GO $%^#ING DIE.


I'm sorry had, to release my anger. Anyway well, we're reelecting so I guess it won't be too bad by next year.

Gratz you European bunnies.

Count, don't start hating on Bush just because the dollar is losing it's value. I mean yea, he spent a lot of money on the war in Iraq, but I can assure you, if we had a different presidential leader besides Bush, the same thing would have occurred and they would have gone to war as well. I don't necessarily think the next presidential election will help much of making our dollar rise in value because we are still in major debt like always. I already saw this coming from a mile aways so it's no surprise to me that the euro will probably continue to be a greater value of the U.S. dollar.

PWnt

Good job. One country got owned by 15.

3/4 of the people above need to shoot themselves in the foot.

We can count the EU as one, seeing as though we have open borders, we all have to commit to European-wide budgets, most European countries have the same currency, etc...

The EU already is (almost) a big country, just not an official one. Therefore it would make sense to group it as one.

The value of the U.S. dollar has been declining for years now, im suprised you just caught on to it. And BTW Argentina and Russia are debating of changing the value of 1 barrel of oil from the lingua franka u.s. dollar to the euro, though it has not happened yet I see it very possible.

Zhou, comparing 50 Federal states to 15 Federal states is a bit of a flawed argument if we're honest.
Whilst the nations using the Euro are all sovereign states, they remain subject to EU law. Theoretically, any US state could declare independence from the over-arching government if they really wanted.

Personally, I continue to fail to understand why British people are attempting to push for less European integration when the benefits far outweigh the negative facets.

Now's the time for a lovely trip to America!

LOL INFLATION
Oh well.
It was fun while it lasted.
Now it's on too step two: world domination.

And then be promptly bombed to kingdom come by the government.

go europe

in your face nubs.

yay! well i guess that can be predicted, considering the problems the US faced last year and is still currently facing... $2 for a £1 owns for us...

Does that mean we are doomed for a european invasion

Its inevitable that the US lost its place as Nr.1
Basically the only thing they could do now, if they really wanted that number 1 seat, is war.
Military is still an area that the US is way far ahead, its the only country that could fight multiple wars simultaneously, mainly cause of nukes...

But we don't really want that, do we? Change isn't necessarily bad. The US is not going to turn into a 3rd world country.
I want to see the planet in 50 years, when China is number 1 in the world...

I always thought the Emirates had the best economy

oh well 15 countries is more than one

Nice to see you can read comments before you.

USA - 50 states, lots of which are the size of European nations

EU - 15 'States, do you now understand? Or is it really too difficult to not be sour?

What an awsome american attitude, congratz.

LOL Zhou lives in a ZOO!!!!

Anyway *cough*

Who is actually interested in the topic? and who just wants to argue?

Personally it makes no difference to me. America are still the only Superpower in the world, plus the ammount of oil they have is ridiculous. So we will see.

well, here in Israel the image is similar. end of 2007 the US dollar was well over the 4.2 NIS (New Israeli Shekel), now its around 3.4 . thats some 20% fall in less than half a year!

Merely a response to those jealous people who would like nothing more to see the US beaten at something and then try to exploit it to no end.

Okay, this makes absolutely no sense.

Somebody explain this to me if I'm wrong.

The countries in question are undoubtedly 15 sovereign states. If this weren't true, there would be an overaching government with a military. The situation is similar to the influence the UN has over the US. If the US weren't in the UN, we might have a topic saying, "HAHA! THE COMBINED GDP OF THE UN IS GREATER THAN THAT OF THE US! SOVEREIGN STATES, B!" Don't jump on me for the fallacy in the example, it is purely for illustration purposes.

You're switching the definition of states as a way to say, "haha, 50 outnumbers 15, and you guys still lose." But this is completely moronic. You're mixing the term "sovereign state" and "sub-national state." In other words, if the United States were the United Provinces, you'd have no argument because you wouldn't be stupid enough to confuse the way State is defined and the way the US uses state as a means to define its provinces. A STATE as a general definition refers to a sovereign nation, this does not include the 50 states in the US. You aren't counting the provincal areas within those 15 nations, either, which would surely outnumber 50.

What do you mean by "open border?"

Technically, any united group of peoples can declare independence.

Open-border as in, like a state, no passport checks, you can freely walk across, get work etc.

Somehow I don't think it'll be that way for much longer, just look at what the government is doing.

Euro currently at $1,578
It wasn't really unexpected though...

Wait did I read this right? It took most of Europe to pass us? Um okay.

Oh wow! Another person that can't read comments above them.

I did read the ones above me.. From what I am reading 15 European countries (all using the same currency) passed the U.S. Economy.. 15 countires that have been around since the fall of the Roman Empire finally pass the economy of one country that has been around of a couple of hundred years. Should I be scared? Meh.. Someone once told us to fear the "third" largest army in the world.. took us what 100 days. Oh wait.. if we add up all of Europes forces are they now the third?

LOL im just messing y'all.

Go Bear Stearns!

Seriously, if it weren't for the FED, you would have no banks anymore. Your economy is in a recession, and when Oboma has the power, your army will be in ruins in 10 years.


Owh, and Shamurai, you patriot, try attacking China.

Unlike many in here I actually fought in a war.. Deserst Storm (first one) U.S. Air Force.

I don't want to attack anyone, just saying its sorta ridiculous to say 15 countries passing one.. in the short term is a really big deal.. We've had bigger recessions and we always bounce back.

Yes, congratulations on almost dying in a pointless war.

Well, Shamurai, how many recessions did you had where shares of a bank drop 86% in 10 hours?

I think Europe is here to stay as number 1, atleast over the U.S, anyway.

Why not compare 15 countries in the same Geographic block, with the same currency, with open borders, etc to a country of 50 states, many of which are much bigger than the EU states?

Those 15 countries are all smaller. Smaller means less resources and less people to sell. All combined, they're probably smaller than America.

Area:

US: 9,826,630 SQ KM
EU: 4,324,782 SQ KM

Wait, surely we should double the EU's figures for everything else because it only has half the area of the U.S?

Finally some facts!

Looks like the dollar pulled a mike tyson.

maybe this should get moved to the debate section... since people are arguing over it...

i guess people's stance really depends on what they consider as states. Those saying that US did get beaten by the members of the EU, which has open borders, like the states in the US, may claim that how-ever-many-states-there-are-in-the-US were beaten by 15 'states.'

The opposite to this is that if people interpret the EU as seperate countries and the US as one country, and they may argue that it took 15 nations to go ahead of one, in which case they would say it doesn't really count.

I think I'm right in saying that the countries which have the Euro (UK doesn't, so i have no idea) share their economy, which can allow you to interpret them as one state in that case, in which case US is no longer the world's largest economy... but meh, i cold be wrong in saying this, i would have looked it up but i guess i have no time, even if i did have time to write as much as i have...


I hope i made sense.

@ Bling, some of the new EU members are pretty poor, countries like The Netherlands, Germany, Sweden etc have to pay up for the rest.

The fact that Europe feels that America is so inferior, you would think that they wouldn't care about this. Also, Plant, get that ridiculous fact out of your sig. No one cares.

I don't know where this "European Pride" comes from, but it pisses me off.

EDIT: Also, 50 states and 15 countries are different things.

Facts aren't ridiculous. That's a contradiction. Trees, many of the states in the U.S are much, much larger the countries in the E.U. The U.S has also got twice the land area as the EU.

What's wrong with being proud of the EU? I'm not allowed to be proud of where I come from?

There should be no debate on this topic, because it's presenting facts. There is nothing to debate.

When has landmass every had anything to do with economical strength? If a slim man hits a large man in the right place, he will fall. That's not the point. I've never seen the UK boast to the rest of Europe that just because they're small and the strongest in economy, they're better. The U.S. is one country. It took fifteen countries to surpass us (like Sham was saying). Fifty states is different from fifteen countries.
It's pretty simple...

Notice how I put European Pride in quotations. Your being cocky and boasting, when there is nothing to boast about (well, kind of). It seems that the British do this the most.

The reference to 15 countries outnumbering 1 was not in terms of landmass but in terms of economic strength.

What really pisses me off is the fact that such a post was made. Obviously it was fueled by jealousy and bias, as a way to say, "Haha, the US isn't the biggest economy anymore." It's not being proud, it's being an asshole.

Calm down Zhou, it wasn't jealously. If anything, you are jealous of the EU because it is now beating the U.S. Simple as. That is a fact. Trying to dispute it makes you look like a fool.

It doesn't matter if it was 15 countries. The U.S states are the size of the countries of the EU. The EU is practically a country, it's only a matter of time until it is official.

Stop being so defensive of your precious America and learn to face the facts. America isn't the best at everything. End of. Stop trying to debate when there is nothing to debate about.

Also, Britain doesn't use the Euro, Trees, therefore I have no idea why you are bringing Britain into this.

No. You created this by assuming that all Americans had the attitude that we are the best. Otherwise, there would be no point to this topic.

Clearly I'm not disputing the strength of the EU. Rather, I called into question the legitimacy of the topic because it assumes the EU to be a country.

I don't have a problem with the EU. The EU itself doesn't declare it to be a country.

I don't think anyone from the states actually understands what the EU is. It is a federal, over-arching government, it does have a combined military force (although this is more a loose agreement which anyone can really avoid if they want to) and although there are fifteen soveriegn nations comprising the state, EU law overrules national law - much as in the Federal US government - as proven in the case "The United Kingdoms of Great Britain & Northern Ireland vs Factortame" in the areas in which the EU has competency. Areas in which the EU does not have competency are still run by individual nations - much as areas in which individual US states hold competency are decided at a devolved level.

Of course you can say it's 15 sovereign states versus one, but that's only because the original sovereign states prior to the Declaration of Independence chose to pool their legitimate power into one federal body. Much as there remain areas in which the EU is overruled by national law; there are reserved areas in the United States.

And Sham, lets not bring the history of each nation into it or I'll be just as much of an imbecile and say that the United states are just made up of Europeans anyway. We're discussing here and now. It's quite easy to say "lolwut, Great Britain's economy was better than the US economy during the Great Depression" but entirely pointless to do so. Not that it'll happen in my lifetime, but should there be a United States of Europe, you wouldn't make the same argument that "It used to be fifteen sovereign states". The USA used to be parts of many sovereign states.

Anyway, on to the main argument; I'd rank a country not by it's cumulative wealth but by It's GDP per capita. This is not the total amount of money the country has, but the amount generated per year per citizen in the nation. If you want to take a guess as to the country with the highest GDP per capita, I'll whack it in spoilers for you:



There's a good reason I rank countries as such; it's all very well saying "Between my friends and I, we have more money" if a crisis comes around and suddenly you need more than you have between you to help only a few. Who's richer, Bill Gates with his fortune of 60+ billion dollars or a hedge trust fund of hundreds of people worth a trillion dollars? If a lethal disease came about and both groups needed $60billion for one dose of a vaccine, who'd be better off?

I'm happy for things like this just because it gives me solid fact for the justification of greater European integration.

The leaders of the united states and most European nations are most likely in bed with each other anyway, so I doubt any of this matters.... to them at least, hah.