Article: "For all its economic power, the US has the largest income inequality in the G7, coupled with the lowest life expectancy and the highest housing costs, according to the OECD. Market competition is limited and millions of workers endure unstable employment conditions."

That's pretty stark. But the U.S. outperformance on GDP growth and productivity growth is very real over the last 5-15 years especialy and has been documented in numerous stories like this. The looming questions seem to be

1. can Europe maintain its social benefits and living standards with such anemic growth (that is, is the goal of more humane and equal society compatible with a robust economy)

2. can the U.S. preserve its competitiveness and overall GDP performance if it imposes more regulations/taxes designed to reduce income disparities, provide more social services, etc.