That article is based on 1) disposable income, which is the wrong metric to use (because it doesn't account for the fact that the US has much higher expenses in health care and education than places like the EU, Japan, etc.), 2) housing size as a metric -- which is due to population density (Western Europe has nearly 5 times the population density of the USA) and the fact that US cities are built around cars, and 3) vehicle ownership, which is both a cultural hallmark of the US and due to the fact that you can't really live without a car (2 if you're married) in the US due to the way its cities are built.

In short, laziest article ever.