PPP is the standard for international comparisons because it smooths out currency distortions ITEP is dedicated to promoting tax increases on the rich and attacking conservative policies so it s fair to call them left wing Of course the premise that Americans don t receive timely care and that the alleged discrepancy results in the LE gap is contested Do Japanese receive significantly timelier care than Australians and Brits What about English versus Scottish As for poverty even the NIH report briefly concedes that Americans have a lower absolute poverty rate than Europeans though it spends far more time obsessing on the absurd Marxist construct of relative poverty Relative poverty increases when all things being equal someone else does too well