[jveritas]

"The table below includes data for the year 2005 for all 181 members of the International Monetary Fund, for which information is available. Data are in International dollars. The table excludes Bermuda which is one of the British overseas territories. Bermuda has the highest GDP PPP in the world at $69,900 (2004 est.) according to the CIA Worldfact book." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28PPP%29_per_capita

Rank Country GDP $ per capita 1 Luxembourg 69,800. 2 Norway 42,364. 3 United States 41,399. 4 Ireland 40,610. 5 Iceland 35,115. 6 Denmark 34,740. 7 Canada 34,273. 8 Hong Kong 33,479. 9 Austria 33,432. 10 Switzerland 32,571. 11 Qatar 31,397. 12 Belgium 31,244. 13 Finland 31,208. 14 Australia 30,897. 15 Netherlands 30,862. 16 Japan 30,615. 17 Germany 30,579.

The US is third in individual income after Luxemburg and Norway but we still have the best standards of living since purchasing goods in the US is much less expensive than all the countries on that list, only Canada may come close to us when it comes purchasing goods.

PS: The US has more millionaires than the whole population of Norway and Luxembourg combined.

[Dick Holmes]

Also from Wikipedia:

There are many factors being considered before measuring standard of living. Some factors are gross domestic product, the per capita income, population, infrastructural development, stability (political and social), and many other indicators.

and

GDP counts work that produces no net change or that results from repairing harm. For example, rebuilding after a natural disaster or war may produce a considerable amount of economic activity and thus boost GDP, but it would have been far better if the disaster had never occurred in the first place. The economic value of health care is another classic example - it may raise GDP if many people are sick and they are receiving expensive treatment, but it is not a desirable situation. Alternative economic measures, such as the standard of living or discretionary income per capita better measure the human utility of economic activity.

We spend the most on healthcare, also on criminal justice and incarceration, of any of the top ten countries. This spending all goes into the GDP, but it might not increase our standard of living relative to the other countries.

[bruinbirdman]

" only Canada may come close to us when it comes purchasing goods"

The CIA World Factbook calls it GDP-per capita (PPP) - personal purchasing power.

CIA The World Factbook - Purchasing Information

Select country/select "economy" (upper right)

yitbos