Why European Living Isn’t As Dreamy As You Think

We’re all very familiar with the dreamy European aesthetic, thanks to films, influencers, and lifestyle content. A beautiful woman in a linen dress pedals through Provence. She buys peaches at a farmer’s market, sips espresso at a sidewalk café, and pauses just long enough to capture the moment. Maybe it’s a brand shoot, or maybe it’s your favorite influencer on vacation. Either way, the caption always says something like, “In Europe, people really live.”

No one’s overweight. No one’s wearing athleisure or pajamas. No one wakes up early or spends the day in a rush. And apparently, no one is working. The message is subtle but clear: Americans are doing it wrong.

We’re the ones with the obesity epidemic, eating ultra-processed food in oversized beige homes, wrapped in Lululemon with the AC cranked to Arctic levels. Europeans, in contrast, are said to be effortlessly elegant: eating fresh-baked bread, strolling charming cobblestone streets, and taking long, leisurely lunches.

It sounds like a fantasy because (for the vast majority of Europeans), it is. And yet, this vision of Europe has taken hold of us over the last decade, and millions of people truly do believe that Europe isn’t just different from America, it's much better. But what if that entire narrative is upside-down?

Picture Perfect...Until You Look Closer

I understand the fantasy and enjoy it as much as the next person. I visited Greece and Italy with sky-high expectations. I was promised the best food of my life, and while I did enjoy a Greek salad with a stunning view that will probably never be topped, getting to that charming café meant driving past mile after mile of decaying little towns. The history in Athens is incredible, but it’s also quite literally crumbling before your eyes. Our tour guide, a proud Greek man, was blunt as he showed us around the city: ambitious Greeks, he said, all want to move to America. They want “good jobs.” They want to make “real money.” Much of Greece’s cultural legacy, he added sadly, is actually preserved by American museums and institutions because the Greek government is in disarray and the economy is stagnant.

Our trip to Italy was similar. Venice was my favorite, truly dreamy and enchanting, but it felt less like a living city and more like a floating museum. I’d read a lot about the places we were visiting before we left, and then I saw it with my own eyes: locals are leaving because the economy simply isn’t sustaining them. Venice now survives almost entirely on tourism. I loved Rome, too, but while the sights were gorgeous and the food was great, transportation was a nightmare. You either pay a small fortune for private transport or try your luck with public systems, which are constantly halted due to strikes, thanks again to a withering economy.

In other words, I’ve personally seen the European postcard come to life, and I was still ready to kiss the ground when we got back to the United States.

The Numbers Tell a Different Story

That’s really the heart of Tyler Cowen’s argument in a recent article for The Free Press, titled “I Once Thought Europeans Lived as Well as Americans. Not Anymore." And Cowen is not some uber-patriotic political pundit. He's an economist at George Mason University and one of the most widely respected thinkers on global development and prosperity, and his piece is backed by data.

In short, he argues that the United States has pulled ahead of Western Europe not just in GDP but in the overall quality of life. Not in theory, but in practice and real practical terms: housing, technology, transportation, comfort, convenience, and innovation. And we can't pretend like these are just superficial luxuries. They shape how people live, what they can aspire to, and how easily they can thrive.

Cowen also explains that many of the narratives praising European life rely on outdated assumptions. They miss the fact that Europe’s economies have stagnated, energy is expensive, wages are flat, and houses are often cramped or aging. And while Americans are portrayed as stressed-out workaholics, we actually enjoy many overlooked freedoms, including the freedom to build wealth, change careers, and start a new business.

Obviously, that doesn’t mean America is perfect, and Cowen is very careful not to suggest that it is. But his point is that when you line things up honestly, and account for both economic data and everyday realities, it becomes hard to argue that Europe offers a clearly superior way of life. It might photograph better, but that’s not the same as being better to live in.

AC, Transportation, and the Myth of the Leisurely European

Take something as basic as air-conditioning. Cowen highlights a shocking comparison: more Europeans now die from heat-related causes each year than Americans die from gun violence. That might sound surprising until you understand how difficult (and sometimes illegal) it is to install or operate AC in much of Europe.

In Geneva, you need a medical exemption just to qualify. In parts of Italy, your neighbors can turn you in, and you’ll be fined. In Britain, energy costs are so astronomical that running the AC might mean skipping dinner. Even when air-conditioning is technically allowed, heritage preservation laws and green regulations often make it inaccessible or ineffective. Restaurants that have AC barely turn it on. Meanwhile, summers in Spain are reaching 114 degrees. In America, we turn on the thermostat, close the blinds, and go about our day.

Transportation is another interesting topic. One of the more persistent claims online is that Europeans choose not to drive, either out of convenience or because they’re so environmentally noble. But others contend that Western Europeans simply can’t afford the cost of owning and maintaining a car. Between sky-high gas prices, aggressive emissions taxes, mandatory inspections, expensive parking permits, and limited infrastructure in old city centers, car ownership is often a luxury, not a norm. They argue that public transport isn’t just "preferred" by most people, it’s required by economic necessity. And yes, European public transit can be efficient, especially in major cities, but outside those hubs, it's often infrequent, outdated, or nonexistent. Some Americans in cities face similar transportation challenges, but the vast majority of us have never had to worry about it.

It’s often claimed that Americans work more and rest less, and statistically, we do log more hours. But we also make significantly more money. According to OECD data, the average American salary is about 25 to 40 percent higher than that of their European counterparts, depending on the country. And that income stretches further. Yes, Europeans get more vacation days, but stagnant wages, higher taxes, and fewer paths to upward mobility often mean they’re not traveling far. Americans may work hard, but when we do vacation, we often go big. Europe included.

The Mississippi Bombshell

Cowen also drops this bombshell: Mississippi, the poorest U.S. state, now has a higher per capita income than many major Western European countries and is nearly on par with Germany and surpasses most EU nations. The state Americans often treat as the punchline is economically ahead of the places we’re told to envy.

This goes beyond just money, too. Americans have more space, more home amenities, better climate control, cheaper energy, and faster tech adoption. Only 30% of European homes have clothes dryers. In the U.S., it’s around 85%. Our appliances are modern. Our electricity is cheaper. Our roads are wider and better maintained. Even our grocery stores tend to be larger, better stocked, and more accessible.

Cowen describes Europe like a pleasant version of the 1990s preserved in amber: neat and pretty but frozen in time. America, for all its flaws, is dynamic. It moves forward.

The myth of European sophistication also tends to gloss over Europe’s declining role in global innovation. For example, the U.S. tech company Nvidia is currently valued at more than the entire German stock market. America builds big things fast, attracts the world’s brightest minds, and gives them venture capital, deregulated playgrounds, and a culture that still believes in ambition. Europe, in contrast, regulates itself into stagnation. Its AI sector is sluggish, and startups are rare. Young entrepreneurs leave for America and don’t come back.

But What About Healthcare?

Predictably, whenever someone criticizes Europe, defenders rush in with the familiar refrain: “But they have universal healthcare!” And yes, many European countries do offer universal coverage. But that’s not the whole story or even most of it.

Many of these systems are increasingly plagued by long wait times, rationed services, aging populations, and doctor shortages. Meanwhile, the U.S., for all its flaws, remains the engine of global medical innovation. Most of the world’s cutting-edge treatments, from cancer immunotherapies to epidural electrical stimulation for spinal cord injuries, are developed and deployed in America first. Europeans may benefit from these advancements eventually, but Americans get access sooner and often faster.

And something else that matters when you're sick: comfort and speed. In the U.S., you're more likely to get a private hospital room, shorter wait times, and faster access to specialists, particularly if you have private insurance. In many European systems, patients wait weeks or months for non-urgent specialist care and are often treated in shared wards with limited privacy. A fractured wrist might mean waiting in line behind dozens of others, and a cataract surgery could take months. In the U.S., you might be scheduled within days.

Then there’s another difference worth mentioning: assisted suicide. Cowen doesn’t touch on this, but it’s another striking contrast. In parts of Europe, including the Netherlands, Belgium, and Switzerland, assisted suicide is no longer reserved for the terminally ill. It’s now available for psychiatric conditions, chronic fatigue, or even those who simply feel tired of living. The Netherlands recently reported over 13,000 deaths by assisted suicide in a single year.

By contrast, the U.S. has legalized assisted suicide in only a few states, and even then, it's strictly limited to terminal cases with significant limitations. Whatever your stance, the fact remains that America is far more likely to treat patients as long as possible and a lot less eager to encourage them to kill themselves.

"Stay Home, Americans"

After Cowen’s article dropped, angry Europeans swarmed the comments. Many mocked the idea that America was doing better. One snarked, “Please, Americans, stay home and enjoy your dryers.”

The truth stings a little more when it’s backed by hard numbers. America’s living standards are now estimated to be 20 to 30 percent higher than Western Europe’s, and the gap is growing.

And even in one of the few areas where European scorn was valid, America is catching up. Our food, for instance, no longer deserves its bad reputation. As Cowen notes, artisan food culture has exploded in the U.S. since the 1990s. In many places, American consumers now enjoy not only higher quality ingredients but more choices, from heritage grains to world-class coffee to regional cheeses.

Delicious, homemade pastries aren't exclusive to quaint European villages anymore. Americans can get those (and almost anything else they want) at one of their local coffee shops or grocery stores.

Who Really Wins?

Nevertheless, Europe is still iconically beautiful. Its history is incredible. And for travelers seeking culture, beauty, and a change of pace, it's absolutely worth the trip. But for more and more Europeans, it's becoming harder to actually live in those stunning places thanks to economic stagnation.

Cowen describes Europe as “the world’s most wonderful museum,” and that feels exactly right. It's rich in memory and beauty, but no longer rich in opportunity. When it comes to actually living and thriving, America wins, which is why we should admire what Europe does well without falling for the fantasy.