EU: Thank God for Mississippi

Growing up in the South, I remember our response to surveys comparing the different states, particularly those ranking our educational systems first through 50th. Invariably, the Magnolia State was No. 50, causing inhabitants of Alabama, Tennessee, Louisiana, Arkansas, et al, to exclaim, "Thank God for Mississippi!"

Now, it seems, our friends across the pond can do the same (Hat tip: InstaPundit):

After adjusting the figures for the different purchasing powers of the dollar and euro, the only European country whose economic output per person was greater than the United States average was the tiny tax haven of Luxembourg, which ranked third, just behind Delaware and slightly ahead of Connecticut.

The next European country on the list was Ireland, down at 41st place out of 66; Sweden was 14th from the bottom (after Alabama), followed by Oklahoma, and then Britain, France, Finland, Germany and Italy. The bottom three spots on the list went to Spain, Portugal and Greece.

Alternatively, the study found, if the E.U. was treated as a single American state, it would rank fifth from the bottom, topping only Arkansas, Montana, West Virginia and Mississippi. In short, while Scandinavians are constantly told how much better they have it than Americans, Timbro's statistics suggest otherwise. So did a paper by a Swedish economics writer, Johan Norberg.

Which reminds me of one of my favorite bumper stickers of all time. Some Louisiana bureaucrat decided it would be great to promote the state by producing bumper stickers that proclaimed, "Louisiana: Proud to Call it Home." The jaded people of New Orleans quickly responded with this gem: "Louisiana: Third World and Damned Proud of It."