[ue]

What a nice little ego stroke for Americans.

The U.S. is "wealthier" because it has the richest people on earth in Hollywood, Manhattan, Cambridge, Washington, and the Silicon Valley. The big bucks are made largely in the U.S.A. That's all there is to it. However, if you remove that top 3% of overachievers, the U.S. looks a lot more impoverished compared to other developed nations.

Also, when will people get comparing one nation to a geographical region of many nations that have varying laws and cultures is not apples to apples?