BTW, the UK "small island" exports per capita are nearly double that of the US
That's a rough approximation, but with another rough approximation they do it with half of the carbon footprint.
Setting aside for the moment the notion that "making things the world wants to buy" has anything to do with the worth of a people, I probably should also mention that measuring exports tends to overemphasize unsustainable extractive industry and low wages. Even beyond that, drilling down through a meaningful measure is even more problematic.
With those cautions in place, here are a few raw numbers:
World rank #36 United Kingdom $5,780 dollar value per capita (2009 estimate)
World rank #46 United States $3,375 dollar value per capita (2009 estimate)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_exports_per_capita
By another source, another measure:
# 48 United Kingdom: $7,275.87 per capita 2007
# 62 United States: $3,812.18 per capita 2007
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/eco_exp_percap-economy-exports-per-capita
You can also look at the exports by states and see that only a few beat the UK average. Or look at exports per GDP dollar value -essentially it's the same ratio. It's also interesting to see the products being exported, but frankly it's nearly identical to the rest of northern Europe -pharmaceuticals, aircraft parts, value-added ag, chemicals, weapons, manufacturing process equipment, financial services...and nowhere on the list do I see Beatles or Royal souvenirs.
Jeez Mitt, that wasn't so tough. Now to the topic of "small houses", I only want to say that big asses need big houses.
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