[wk_end]

Your overall point still mostly stands, but per capita GDP isn’t super helpful when talking about middle class Americans because of wealth inequality. The median US income is less than half of that. And the cost of living in Bangladesh is probably something like a quarter of the COL in the US. So while there’s still a pretty stark difference in wealth, it’s not quite as stark as you’re implying.

[nosefurhairdo]

Purchasing Power Parity (PPP): This adjusts for cost of living and inflation rates between countries, giving a more accurate comparison of living standards.

In 2023, GDP per capita in terms of PPP for Bangladesh and USA was $8,242 and $74,578 respectively (per World Bank).

[bruce511]

It is hard to compare one country to another because they are different in so many ways. Each has positives and negatives.

Clearly the USA and Bangladesh are different. Comparing their GDP is simplistic and doesn't really speak to quality of life in either place. Much less does it take into account that two people in each country may in turn have vastly different quality of lives.

In short, using national statistics tells us very little about your life, or my life, or any specific persons life.

[nosefurhairdo]

The person I responded to (correctly) criticized per capita GDP, citing differences in cost of living. I felt that referencing PPP would be helpful since it attempts to factor in cost of living differences.

I'm not sure this "comparisons are hard" speech is adding much. Differences in wealth are real, measurable, and meaningful, even if they can't be boiled down to a single number. Obviously there are other factors to quality of life; nobody here stated anything to the contrary.