Bifalgorithm post

Ask ten people which country is the richest in the world and almost all ten will say the same answer. And depending on how you actually measure it, most of them would be wrong. Wait, wrong? Isn't richest country just whichever one has the most money? That's exactly the question. What does the most money even mean when you're comparing countries with wildly different populations? I'd guess it's the US. Biggest economy, most companies, most money moving around. That's the answer almost everyone gives. And by one measure, it's correct. Right. By that measure. But there's another way to measure wealth. Dividing that total output by every single person in the country. And the moment you do that, the answer completely flips. Wait, flips to what? How does a country that small outproduce a country of over 300 million people per person? you could drive across in under an hour. So both answers are technically correct. It just depends on the question you're asking. Exactly. Ask which country produces the most? America wins. Ask which country produces the most per person? A tiny European nation most people couldn't find on a map takes the crown.

Ask ten people which country is the richest in the world and almost all ten will say the same answer. And depending on how you actually measure it, most of the…