Re:Correction: stale data. (Score 1)

Your correction, that "SOME Americans can afford to drive SUVs", makes a good point. There are lots of people here who live below the poverty level. I'd like to extend that by saying SOME Americans who drive SUVs can actually afford them, but most cannot. I've never been to Europe and probably wouldn't make a "standard of living" comparison if I had (apples to oranges and all that), but I'm pretty sure few Americans who buy new or late model vehicles pay cash for them. In this country to guess a person's net worth based upon his vehicle(s), home(s), etc. is pure folly. I don't know if that's true in Europe but here in the US it's a fact of life.