<p>So, I was pondering the weakness of the UK economy (I am British) and its lagging productivity performance.  I was thinking that capital deployed per worker would be an explanatory variable.  </p>

<p>Looking at figures from www.tradingeconomics.com: Gross Fixed Capital Formation data : <a href="http://www.tradingeconomics.com/germany/gross-fixed-capital-formation" rel="nofollow noreferrer" title="Germany Gross Fixed Capital Formation">Germany</a>
|<a href="http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-kingdom/gross-fixed-capital-formation" rel="nofollow noreferrer" title="United Kingdom Gross Fixed Capital Formation">United Kingdom</a>|<a href="http://www.tradingeconomics.com/france/gross-fixed-capital-formation" rel="nofollow noreferrer" title="France Gross Fixed Capital Formation">France</a>|<a href="http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/gross-fixed-capital-formation" rel="nofollow noreferrer" title="United States Gross Fixed Capital Formation">United States</a>.</p>

<p>Dividing through by population (proxy for working population) I get the following per capita figures</p>

<pre><code>UK       $1,506.79 
Germany  $1,860.17 
France   $1,858.21 
USA      $8,715.27 
</code></pre>

<p>If the Sterling/dollar exchange before Brexit were used then the three European economies are very close to each at $1800.  But the key standout is the USA figure its miles ahead.</p>

<p>So I am now wondering why is United States Gross Capital Formation per capita so far ahead of the big 3 European economies?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-30T13:10:26.417Z
Are you comparing quarterly or annual figures, or possibly annual for US only?  Looking at the OECD figures for 2014 (http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/economics/national-accounts-of-oecd-countries_2221433x - click on Read to access the table for a country, for pdf you need to subscribe) the disparity appears much less.
Adam Bailey
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-30T13:11:00.903Z
@Adam Bailey: ah, I will check my figures.
S Meaden
<usa><capital-structure>
Why is United States Gross Capital Formation per capita so far ahead of the big 3 European economies?
S Meaden
# Why is United States Gross Capital Formation per capita so far ahead of the big 3 European economies?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-12-30)

So, I was pondering the weakness of the UK economy (I am British) and its lagging productivity performance.  I was thinking that capital deployed per worker would be an explanatory variable.  
Looking at figures from www.tradingeconomics.com: Gross Fixed Capital Formation data : Germany
|United Kingdom|France|United States.
Dividing through by population (proxy for working population) I get the following per capita figures
UK       $1,506.79 
Germany  $1,860.17 
France   $1,858.21 
USA      $8,715.27 

If the Sterling/dollar exchange before Brexit were used then the three European economies are very close to each at $1800.  But the key standout is the USA figure its miles ahead.
So I am now wondering why is United States Gross Capital Formation per capita so far ahead of the big 3 European economies?

**Tags:** usa, capital-structure

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Are you comparing quarterly or annual figures, or possibly annual for US only?  Looking at the OECD figures for 2014 (http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/economics/national-accounts-of-oecd-countries_2221433x - click on Read to access the table for a country, for pdf you need to subscribe) the disparity appears much less.  
> **username_0**: @username_1: ah, I will check my figures.  

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## 0 answers

