It seems that there is a renewed interest in detailed comparisons of the economic realities in Europe and the US. First Die Zeit (German), then The Economist, and now Crooked Timber’s John Quiggin has a very nice piece illustrating the statistical problems inherent in all international economic comparisons – there’s not one just reality, and the truth is, as so often, mainly in the eye of the beholder.

By the way, Germany’s destatis is about to implement major changes to its system of national accounting that address some of the issues mentioned in John’s essay. So rest assured that German productivity will rise soon…