[jballanc]

I don't see how they are at all related. For one thing, I can pretty much guarantee you that the difference in GDP growth between the fastest growing European economy and the slowest is leaps and bounds larger than the same difference between states. For another thing, for many businesses in the US, it's fairly trivial to relocate should things go south. Not so for moving between countries in Europe.

[moultano]

I don't think you are correct. There are some deeply poor regions of the US that have been that way for 100 years.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_povert... http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081031102640.ht... Between states it ranges from 5% to 20%. Between countries in Europe it ranges from 10% to 20%. I'm sure the figures aren't directly comparable, but it at least suggests that there's a similar level of economic diversity.

[jballanc]

Heh...wow! I think your statistics don't mean at all what you think they mean. When I mentioned growth, I was talking about year-over-year growth (or decline) in national GDP. According to that statistic, Europe contains some of the fastest growing (Turkey, Estonia, Lithuania) and slowest growing (Greece, Italy, Spain) countries in the world.

Your statistic shows poverty rate. The fact that there is greater variation between states in the US than between countries in Europe just shows what many of us have known for years: even if your economy sucks, the worst-off do better in Europe than in the US. In other words, the US is a great place to be if you are wealthy and successful. Europe is a much better place to be if you are anyone else.