Just 2 hours... till more Nations join the EU

[Klaus]

Some Numbers:
People: 74 million (Total: to 455m)
Teritory: 738,573 km? (Total: to 4m sq km)
Countries: 10 new (Total: 25)
GDP: 444bn ? (Total: to 9,613bn)

A special welcome to the former Communist countries:
Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.

 

[verte76]

I'll bet there is some heavy-duty partying going on in those countries! Best wishes to them and their people on this happy day in their histories!

 

[STING2]

Here are some interesting comparisions of the EU to the USA.

Gross Domestic Product

EU: $9.0 Trillion
USA: $10.4 Trillion

Gross Domestic Product Per Capita

EU $19,700
USA $35,700

Population

EU 455 Million
USA 291 Million

Unemployment

EU 9%
USA 5.7%

Inflation

EU 2%
USA 2.3%

Military Spending

EU $163 Billion
USA $409 Billion

Education: Percentage of people completing higher education or equivalent, 2002:

EU 20.4%
USA 26.7%

Personal Computers: Number of personal computers per 100 people, 2002:

EU 31
USA 66

Mobile phones: Number of mobile phones per 100 people, 2002:

EU 74
USA 49

Internet users: Number of Internet users per 100 people, 2002:

EU 33
USA 55

 

[Angela Harlem]

This is interesting because....?

Seconding verte's sentiments, good to hear!

 

[Rono]

This is interesting because....?

Seconding verte's sentiments, good to hear!

We have more cell phones because our unemployment numbers are higher,...

 

[Angela Harlem]

 

[Salome]

Education: Percentage of people completing higher education or equivalent, 2002:
EU 20.4%
USA 26.7%

it would be very interesting to know what happened to the large majority of about 75%


Unemployment

EU 9%
USA 5.7%
I would be interested to have numbers about the standard of living for unemployed in the USA and in the EU

actually, I miss numbers about the avarage standard of living anyway



it also would be interesting if we could compare these numbers to - let's say - 20 years ago
especially since the EU is still in baby shoes really


overall,
I don't find these numbers really interesting
they show me near to nothing

 

[Klaus]

We're still celebrating here, also we know that the new countries are economically as week as eastern germany and especially the germans know what that means.

But... It's a wonderful feeling not to live at the border of the western- and the eastern block anymore and i think integrating them to europe (also this will be verry costly) reduces the risks of future wars.

 

[verte76]

There is a picture in our newspaper today of a celebration in Vilnius, Lithuania. Wow things have really changed for them.

 

[melon]

I would be interested to have numbers about the standard of living for unemployed in the USA and in the EU[/B]

The US' unemployment figures are highly misleading. People who have been umemployed for too long get bumped off the system, particularly if they run out of unemployment benefits and give up on the unemployment agencies. They are then deemed as "employed," which is a clever Reagan-era scam, created to fudge the numbers to make him look good. Thus, what often happens is that when employment looks promising, the unemployment figures often bump back up, when the long-term unemployed get back in contact with the agencies. Thus, I would say that the US figures are nothing more than propaganda.

Melon

 

[STING2]

The US' unemployment figures are highly misleading. People who have been umemployed for too long get bumped off the system, particularly if they run out of unemployment benefits and give up on the unemployment agencies. They are then deemed as "employed," which is a clever Reagan-era scam, created to fudge the numbers to make him look good. Thus, what often happens is that when employment looks promising, the unemployment figures often bump back up, when the long-term unemployed get back in contact with the agencies. Thus, I would say that the US figures are nothing more than propaganda.

Melon

The number of people who get bumped out of the system is a fraction of the total unemployment. The United Nations Human Development Report last summer estimated that long term unemployment was only 6% of the total Unemployment figures and if added into the unemployment figures would only boost the percentage rate up by less than a half percent.

So adding in those that have dropped below the radar screen in the USA, Unemployment in the USA is currently around 6.1%.

 

[Rono]

There is a picture in our newspaper today of a celebration in Vilnius, Lithuania. Wow things have really changed for them.

It is not so peacefull and happy as you think. Because it is not under Russian occupation anymore does not mean that there are no Russians. There are already sings that the Russian population will be forbidden to speak Russian, to teach in Russian ect. It seems that the Lithuania government will do the same to the Russians as what the Russians did to them,....in therms of culture.

 

[verte76]

It is not so peacefull and happy as you think. Because it is not under Russian occupation anymore does not mean that there are no Russians. There are already sings that the Russian population will be forbidden to speak Russian, to teach in Russian ect. It seems that the Lithuania government will do the same to the Russians as what the Russians did to them,....in therms of culture.

There has actually been a smattering of news in the States about political disputes and such going on in Lithuania. At one point the news claimed that a head of state that they elected was opposed to them joining the EU. But we get very little news about this sort of thing here.