In this graph I believe the odd position of the US is because religious conviction is much stronger here than in Europe. While Europe has a comparable standard of living to the US there are far fewer people who identify themselves as religious.

One thing that I think would be interesting would be to look at median income versus religious belief since the gap between the poor and the rich in the US is so wide (much wider than in many European countries). So much wealth in the US is in so few hands that it’s bound to skew the graph compared to GDP per capita. I wonder if that’s at least partly what you’re talking about, Vinod, when you say that people in the US don’t have as high a standard of living as they’re told.

The standard of living of the USA is not as high as its inhabitants are contsantly told.