The Israeli economy is based on different factors than in the US. Acording to the Central Bureau of Statistics in Israel, as of February 2023, an average family in Israel has 3.72 children. The Charedim (Ultra Orthodox) and families are above this average. Likewise, over 94% of the couples in Israel are properly married.
This creates a situation where both parents, if needed, go to work for the purpose of improving their family life. There is support from parents or from other people in the family. The mutual responsibility creates a different financial aspect that you won’t find in the US.
The Israeli economy vs the US economy
The artist Matisyahu in his song Youth says “Youth is the engine of the world”. Whilst this can’t be a single factor dictating how the economies are compared, it’s quite an important factor. In Israel there is more awareness to the younger generation. Elite students are accepted into programs that help them develop their skills, also known as Atuda. The academy level is rigorous. Hence, the Israeli economy is getting a boost from its younger generation. On a macro level, Israel is doing great. It could be argued the micro economy requires an improvement, e.g. the gap between the rich and poor is widening. However that is a worldwide problem as well.
The US economy is largely based on imports from China, as well as migration. For example, customer service for companies like Amazon and large retailers are based in India or the Philippines (Israel doesn’t have this problem because of the Hebrew language).
In the US there aren’t many interactions between one household and its neighbors. You have to worry about yourself and thus, there is no mutual assistance between one another.
World economy is based on trust
Take for example, the Yedidim organization. This is an organization that helps people who get stuck with their cars for free. It’s based only on donations. That in turn helps people to get quickly back to work. There is less bureucracy and forms to fill out. Instead, caring for one another is the key.
It sounds like it’s not based on numbers and data, however world economy is based on trust. You increase trust by having it.
This doesn’t imply everyone trusts each other in Israel, however the trust level helps to skip on unnecessary pitfalls in order to get the job done. This also has impact on the USD/ILS exchange rate in return.
There are other factors to compare, such as Israeli’s proximity to China, the use of the sea, the natural gas reserves as well as changing from a developing to a developed country. However it’s impossible to relate to all these factors in one single page.
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