The USSR once had an ambitious goal to outpace the USA in every single aspect. Today’s Russia doesn’t even try to speak about it. Russian politicians are only touching upon some historical and geopolitical missions as well as human spirituality. Apparently, Russia want’s to be a superpower in the modern world.
Still, even a strong desire alone is not enough to fulfil such ambitious goals, even when backed by nuclear weapons. Today, economic and financial factors as well as technology are valued more than others when determining the world’s leaders and outsiders.
In this article, we are going to find out where Russia is lagging behind the USA
First off, the U.S. economy is 11 times as big as the one of Russia. America accounts for 23,32% of the global GDP. The economies of some U.S. states can be compared to the economies of entire countries – Turkey, Belgium, UAE, Singapore and even the UK. Take California alone. If to consider it as a standalone state, it would occupy the 8th position in the GDP rating and the 35th position in the population rating. For the sake of comparison, Russia generates only 2,49% of the global GDP.
The U.S. Dollar is the world’s major reserve currency. The Russian Ruble is far away from being a reserve currency. Forex confirms this by showing you the USDRUB exchange rate:
The U.S. economy managed to recover from the latest global crisis (2008-2009) and showed some growth while Russia is still trying to take its economy to the pre-crisis levels. The dynamics can be tracked with the help of the stats showing the amount of employed people. The chart shows that the 2008 drop is followed by a strong recovery. As we can see, it is all about the ability of a certain economy to quickly adapt to the changing environment. In that regard, so far American companies have been successful in doing so.
The world’s two major stock exchanges belong to the USA. These markets have been the guideline for the rest of the trading world, including the Russian stock market. The market cap of NYSE and NASDAQ is bigger than the market cap of all the other exchanges worldwide.
If to consider the world’s 10 biggest corporations, 7 of them are American and none of them are Russian. The TOP5 is completely American.
As for the TOP 100, almost 50% of them are American and none of them are Russian. Money attracts money. This leads us to believe, that American businesses know how to make money and attract investments amid nearly perfect conditions created by the U.S. government.
When it comes to the impact on various fields of human life all around the globe, the scales are even incomparable. The USA accounts for 70% of all the venture investments worldwide. Over 60% of all the Internet users are American. Even if to consider the fields where American companies are not among the leaders, they are still rated high in such ratings and consequently influence the tendencies.
When it comes to pharmacy, the USA in number one again while Russia is far behind.
When considering the military factor, most Russians think that this is one of the key factors (if not the most important one) that determines whether a certain country is a superpower. Apparently, the USA takes the lead once again. The USA can afford to spend huge amounts of money on the army.
As for the America’s image around the world, most countries are positive. The American dream and stuff, you know…
When it comes to science, Americans become Nobel Prize winners most of the time. This leads us to believe that America invests in science. As you probably know, talented scientists and experts from around the globe (including Russia) often move to the USA for better living standards. This is known as the so-called “brain drain”.
When it comes to Olympics winners, the Americans outpace any other nation. Everything is fine with sports in the USA. There are all conditions for harmonious development – both the intellectual and physical side.
When we consider the world’s 10 most popular movies in history, 9 of them are made in Hollywood. Harry Potter is the only popular movie shot outside of the USA – in the UK.
The same holds true for music. Out of the world’s 15 most popular music bands and signers, 9 belong to America. While the first place is occupied by The Beatles, Elvis Presley is number 3 on the list.
Google, Facebook, Youtube are the 3 most popular web sources on the web. All of them are of American origin despite being international. 7 out of 10 most popular websites are Amercian as well.
The residential property owned by the Americans is still growing in a pretty fast way. The reason is pretty simple. Due to relatively high standards of living, most Americans can simply afford it, even if they have to apply for mortgage loans.
When it comes to welcoming foreigners, the USA is number one again. Apparently, we are talking about legal migration here. Still, the USA is a “melting pot” in itself. Even though the USA was founded by white European migrants, in 2014, when it turned out that most of the the American youth doesn’t belong to the Caucasian race. This is a country of tolerance in every single aspect.
This is a multicultural country. American citizens speak many languages since they belong to various nations. It happens so that U.S. citizens speak 422 languages but use English to understand each other.
Even the New York language map does impress:
The Americans is a relatively young nation. The average age is 37,6 years old.
How did the Americans achieve all that?
The answer is simple:
Since day one they know that they can count only on themselves and that its them who are responsible for their lives. They do their best to achieve heir goals and create all the conditions required for that. The Americans do not count on foreign nations. They demand correct and just laws instead of subsidies. Their votes are not for sale during elections. They want clear plans and actions…
