> [gotta love the headline, "AMERICANS CAN BUY MORE"]
> Saturday May 4, 10:47 am Eastern Time
>
> International Monetary Fund data from 2001 show that U.S. GDP per
> capita in dollar terms was 56 percent higher than in Sweden while in
> 1980, Swedish GDP per capita was 20 percent higher.
Sweden's statistics agency (http://www.scb.se/eng/ekonomi/nr/forsbalkv.asp) says Swedish GDP at the end of 2001 was 2 167 196 million kronor; at 10.1 SwKr to the dollar, that's a per capita GDP of $23,957. The comparable US figure, using BEA and Census data, is $35,572. So Sweden's nominal GDP is 67% of the US figure, not less than half.
But the ringer here is the exchange rate: the Kronor ran 5-8 to the US dollar during most of the 1990s, and only late in 2001 plunged to 10 to the buck (http://www.stls.frb.org/fred/data/exchange/exsdus). Move the kronor to 6.5 to the dollar, in keeping with long-term averages, and hey presto -- Swedish GDP is now $37,424 per capita.
-- Dennis