Economics, size matters?

[Deleted]

First of all let me state that I'm no economics expert, so you can take whatever I say with a pinch of salt.

However I went on one of my voyages of random thought and ended up thinking about the state of countries economies and happened upon this image from a paper published in 1999



As you can see most of Europe and the UK is maxxed out in the 'red zones' of high GDP per square kilometer, however countries like USA and China are still, as far as I'm aware, the best off countries economically.

Just got me thinking, is it actually possible for areas like Europe and the UK to contend with the 'big hitters' economically when USA/China etc have so much more room to expand their economy unopposed?

Just my random thoughts from the day, thought I might try and spark some conversation from any 'knowledgeable' individuals lurking on the forums.

[Deleted]

I regard that picture with some skepticism; it shows the North of England in Dark Red, yet the North-East of Scotland is only in red, which in regard to UK figures, doesn't add up; the North of England produces much less in comparison to Scotland, with Scotland generating the 3rd highest amount of the UK's income with only London and the South-West generating more.

Edit: Just noticed it was from 1999, that explains things.

[Deleted]

I regard that picture with some skepticism; it shows the North of England in Dark Red, yet the North-East of Scotland is only in red, which in regard to UK figures, doesn't add up; the North of England produces much less in comparison to Scotland, with Scotland generating the 3rd highest amount of the UK's income with only London and the South-West generating more.

Edit: Just noticed it was from 1999, that explains things.

Yeah I release it's probably outdated now but the best I could find. I imagine China will have a substationally higher GDP now.

[Gilgemesh]

Much of it has to do with how many people can perform profitable work. You can only fit so many people in so much space, so larger countries would be more profitable if they grew at the same rates as smaller countries. Such is not always the case, because transportation negates profitability. This is why europe, with so many cities close together, has such a high GDP, while the bigger countries only have extremely high GDP in heavily populated areas. This map is a better reflection of how population density can affect GDP.

[Jackmoves]

That pic got more to do with the number of population then anything. The UK for example is not a huge country by size but there is still quite a lot of people living there, hence why it's maxed out, lots of people living in a "small" area.

[Catta]

"areas like Europe and the UK"
- No matter how much you want to be in the middle of the Atlantic you are still part of Europe >_>

anyway
I dont really understand what you mean when you say "contend with"

[Deleted]

As you can see most of Europe and the UK is maxxed out in the 'red zones' of high GDP per square kilometer, however countries like USA and China are still, as far as I'm aware, the best off countries economically.

First of all, that map is pretty useless. What matters is GDP per capita, not GDP per square kilometer. The red areas in China might have a lot of commerce, but at the same time they also have shitloads of people. You have to adjust for population to know if the economy is any good.

Second, China is most definitely not a country that is economically well off. The only reason we care what they do is that they have so many inhabitants. Their economy is absolute shite, the GDP per capita is low and the average person has a pretty shitty time.

[kailtas]

This just gives a rough estimate of where people live. And that the economy is strongest in coastal areas, just look at the US, China, around the Nordic countries, around Spain and Northern Africa.

[Deleted]

I'm pretty sure Europe as a whole already has a higher GDP than the USA, but then it does have more population. So we already do "compete" with them economically China is still up and coming and has a long way to go. Remember it has over 3x the population of the USA.

Space doesn't really have anything to do with it. It's not like cities are known for needing a lot of space. You can't just build more cities to grow your economy, there's only a certain amount of demand for anything. The USA will never have all its states contributing equally economically, because there's always a core(s) and a periphery. Same with any European country, and right now the Eurozone as a whole.

Let's be honest, the real reason why Europe is facing economic issues is because of the eurozone crisis. And that is purely down to politicians of various countries.

[Chaoslux]

I like how Canada seems to be the least dense place ever.