The U.S. has 4% of the world’s population and consumes 25% of the world’s power.

This time I heard it on the NBC Evening news. The reporter never bothered to ask why the speaker made this comparison. What the Bleep do these two things have in common?

Okay. At first glance this statement seems to hold some substance. What could only 4% of the world’s people be doing that accounts for so much power usage? Hmm. I wonder if production might tell us something?

Gross Domestic Product provides of the best measures to compare countries or populations. According to the International Monetary Fund the 2006 World GDP was $48,245,198,000,000 and the U.S. GDP is $13,194,700,000,000. Isn’t it a coincidence that the U.S. GDP is about 27% of the World GDP and the U.S. power consumption is 25% of world power consumption?

Digg!