Germany OR German OR Merkel from:ianbremmer

% of students learning a foreign language Liechtenstein 100% Luxembourg 100% Malta 100% Norway 100% Austria 100% Romania 100% France 100% Spain 96% Sweden 92% Finland 84% Italy 82% Germany 82% Iceland 78% Netherlands 70% Belgium 64% US 20% (Pew)

Merkel with big losses in Hesse elections today. Bolsonaro about to be Brazil’s next President. Macron at historic lows. Brexit, Italy, E Europe... Make no mistake, whatever happens Nov 6 in US, political momentum in democracies everywhere is against the establishment.

% who support taking in refugees who are fleeing violence & war Spain 86% Netherlands 83% Germany 82% Sweden 81% France 79% Mexico 79% Canada 74% UK 74% Greece 69% Japan 66% US 66% Poland 49% Russia 41% Israel 37% Hungary 32% Pew

Vacation days for workers (min. paid leave + public holidays) UK 37 days France 36 Spain 36 *Germany 33 max (holidays vary by state) Chile 30 S Korea 30 Aussie 28 Japan 25 Israel 21 Canada 19 Mexico 13 US 10 OECD

% who are proud to identify as European Finland 87% Portugal 86% Norway 84% Denmark 82% Sweden 80% Belgium 79% Netherlands 79% Spain 78% France 73% Ireland 72% Austria 69% Germany 66% Italy 64% Switzerland 64% UK 62% Pew

Most popular app in: Australia: Instagram Brazil: WhatsApp Canada: Dunk Line China: Douyin France: Bitmoji Germany: McDonald’s Deutschland India: WhatsApp Japan: Knives Out Mexico: WhatsApp Russia: Telegram Messenger UK: Dunk Line US: FB Messenger Marketing Resources Inc

Highest # of deaths attributed to alcohol China 709K India 332K Russia 223K Brazil 97K US 90K Vietnam 79K Ukraine 78K Germany 62K Mexico 49K France 52K The Lancet

US favorable ratings of world leaders Justin Trudeau 48% Theresa May 46% Angela Merkel 39% Benjamin Netanyahu 37% Vladimir Putin 13% Kim Jong Un 6% Gallup

I get that Trump doesn’t want to end the Saudi alliance over Khashoggi murder. I don’t get why he’s so much more solicitous to MBS than, say, Abe, Macron, May, Merkel, and Trudeau.

Most developed countries 2018 1 Norway (reigning champ since 2001) 2 Switzerland 3 Australia 4 Ireland 5 Germany 6 Iceland 7 Hong Kong, Sweden (tie) 9 Singapore 10 Netherlands US #13 UN Human Development Index

% of respondents who own Bitcoin or a similar digital currency in 2018 Turkey 18% Romania 12% Poland 11% Spain 10% Czech 9% US 8% Austria 8% Germany 8% Italy 8% Aussie 7% Netherlands 7% UK 6% France 6% Belgium 5% Luxembourg 4% ING Intl Survey

Per capita CO2 emissions US 15 metric tons Canada 14.9 S Korea 12 Russia 10 Japan 9 Germany 8.9 China 7 UK 6 Italy 5 France 4 Brazil 2 India 1.6 Intl Energy Agency/IMF

Education spending as a % of GDP Norway 6.4% New Zealand 6.3% UK 6.2% US 6% Australia 5.95% France 5% Spain 4.4% Germany 4.2% Japan 4% Italy 3.9% Ireland 3.5% Russia 3% (OECD)

% of Christians who say religion is very important in their lives Ethiopia 98% Philippines 91% Colombia 80% Brazil 77% US 68% Israel 58% Mexico 48% Canada 39% S Korea 38% Spain 30% France 12% Germany 12% Italy 23% (don’t let the Pope see this) Russia 16% UK 11% Denmark 9% Pew

% of mobilized WWI forces that were killed, wounded, captured or reported missing during combat Japan 0% (rounded) US 8% British Empire 36% Italy 39% France 73% Russia 76% Bulgaria 22% Ottoman Empire 34% Germany 65% Austria-Hungary 90% Brittanica

Top rated movie in Australia: Hacksaw Ridge Brazil: City of God China: Dying to Survive France: Léon: The Professional Germany: Fight Club India: Goodachari Japan: The Human Condition III Russia: The Return S Korea: Oldboy UK: Dark Knight US: Shawshank Redemption IMDB

Most globally competitive nations 1 US (#1 for the first time since the financial crisis) 2 Singapore 3 Germany 4 Switzerland 5 Japan 6 Netherlands 7 Hong Kong SAR 8 UK 9 Sweden 10 Denmark WEF Global Competitiveness Report 2018 -> http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GCR2018/05FullReport/TheGlobalCompetitivenessReport2018.pdf …

5G network sites per 100K population: Japan 17.4 China 14.1 Germany 8.7 US 4.7 Per 10 sq miles: Japan 15.2 China 5.3 Germany 5.1 US 0.4 Deloitte