The top economies – The daily blog of behavioral and cognitive economics

Why the Top Economies Might Not Be the Best

Using traditional metrics, The Economist ranked 37 “mostly rich” countries. However, a closer look reveals some not so traditional information. The Economist’s metrics were “GDP, stock market performance, core inflation, unemployment, and government deficits.” These were the top five’s numbers for three of the variables: Ireland. Explaining Ireland’s gob smacking per capita GDP of $104,270 (2023) we just need to name Google, Apple, and Meta, and the 167 U.S. companies that opened offices there last year, and corporate taxes. At 12.5%, Ireland’s corporate tax rate is far lower than the U.S.’s 21 percent. Just 10 U.S. companies provide an estimated 60% of Ireland’s corporate tax dollars. ….[READ]