17-04-2013, 08:01 PM
How the U.S. Performs in Recent International Rankings; Hint: 3rd, as in Third World
By Eric Zuesse 4/15/2013 at 23:24:40
Two sets of international rankings were recently issued, one from UNICEF, "Child Well-Being in Rich Countries," and the other from the World Economic Forum, "The Global Competitiveness Report 2012-2013."
"Child Well-Being in Rich Countries" ranks 29 developed countries, according to the well-being of their children, on numerous factors.
The U.S. ranks #26 overall for "Child Well-Being." This overall rank includes: #26 for "Material Well-Being"; #28 for "Child Poverty Rates"; #25 for "Health and Safety"; #26 for "Infant Mortality Rates"; #26 for "Low Birthweight"; #22 for "Immunization Rates"; #27 for "Educational Well-Being"; #27 for "Preschool Enrollment Rates"; #25 for "Participation in Further Education"; #16 for "Educational Achievement by Age 15"; #29 for "Overweight"; #2 for "Exercise"; #29 for teen-pregnancy rates; #1 for "Alcohol" (U.S. receives the top rank for absence of drunkenness); #4 for "Smoking" (again, absence); #11 for "Fighting"; #12 for "Being Bullied"; #23 for "Housing"; #27 for "Homicide"; #3 for (lack of) "Air Pollution"; #23 for children's self-reported "Life Satisfaction"; and #28 for "Relationships with Parents and Peers."
The top-rated countries for child well-being, overall, in order, are: (1) Netherlands; (2) Norway; (3) Iceland; (4) Finland; (5) Sweden); (6) Germany; (7) Luxembourg; (8) Switzerland; (9) Belgium; and (10) Ireland.
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A much broader ranking-system, from the World Economic Forum, is "The Global Competitiveness Report 2012-2013," which ranks 144 countries, on a wide range of factors related to global economic competitiveness.
The U.S. ranks as #1 on only 4 out of the 117 different factors that are rated, and each of these 4 factors reflects merely the sheer size, the hugeness, of the U.S. economy. These four factors might thus collectively be identified as the Hugeness components: "GDP," "GDP as a Share of World GDP," "Available Airline Seat Kilometers," and "Domestic Market Size Index." Other than Hugeness, the results for the U.S. are not at all outstanding.
Health Care shows the U.S. ranking as #34 on "Life Expectancy," and as #41 on "Infant Mortality." (And, of course, unlike the "Infant Mortality" rankings from UNICEF, this ranking is among 144 countries. Thus: some underdeveloped countries actually have higher life-expectancy than does the U.S.)
Education in the U.S. is also apparently mediocre. On "Quality of Primary Education," we are #38. On "Primary Education Enrollment Rate," we are #58. On "Quality of the Educational System," we are #28. On "Quality of Math and Science Education," we are #47. On "Quality of Scientific Research Institutions," we are #6. On "PCT [Patent Cooperation Treaty] Patent Applications [per-capita]," we are #12. On "Firm-Level Technology Absorption" (which is an indicator of business-acceptance of inventions), we are #14.
Trust is likewise only moderately high in the U.S. We rank #10 on "Willingness to Delegate Authority," #42 on "Cooperation in Labor-Employer Relations," and #18 in "Degree of Customer Orientation" of firms.
Corruption seems to be a rather pervasive problem in the U.S. On "Diversion of Public Funds [due to corruption]," the U.S. ranks #34. On "Irregular Payments and Bribes" (which is perhaps an even better measure of lack of corruption) we are #42. On "Public Trust in Politicians," we are #54. On "Judicial Independence," we are #38. On "Favoritism in Decisions of Government Officials" (otherwise known as governmental "cronyism"), we are #59. On "Organized Crime," we are #87. On "Ethical Behavior of Firms," we are #29. On "Reliability of Police Services," we are #30. On "Transparency of Governmental Policymaking," we are #56. On "Efficiency of Legal Framework in Challenging Regulations," we are #37. On "Efficiency of Legal Framework in Settling Disputes," we are #35. On "Burden of Government Regulation," we are #76. On "Wastefulness of Government Spending," we are also #76. On "Property Rights" protection (the basic law-and-order measure), we are #42.
Investors evidently find somewhat shaky ground in the U.S. On "Strength of Investor Protection," we are #5. On "Protection of Minority Shareholders' Interests," we are #33. On "Efficacy of Corporate Boards," we are #23. On "Reliance on Professional Management," we are #19. On "Strength of Auditing and Reporting Standards," we are #37. On "Venture Capital Availability," we are #10. On "Intellectual Property Protection," we are #29. On "Soundness of Banks," we are #80. On "Regulation of Securities Exchanges," we are #39. On "Country Credit Rating," we are #11. On "Government Debt [as a % of GDP]," we are #136. On "Effectiveness of Anti-Monopoly Policy," we are #17. On "Extent of Market Dominance," we are #9.
Technology seems to be moderately good here. The U.S. ranks #14 on "Availability of Latest Technologies," #24 on "Internet Access in Schools," #20 on "Internet Users [%]," #33 on "Internet Bandwidth [per user]," and #8 on "Mobile Broadband Subscriptions [%]."
Infrastructure is apparently fairly good in the U.S. We rank #25 on "Quality of Overall Infrastructure," #33 on "Quality of Electricity Supply," #30 on "Quality of Air Transport Infrastructure," #19 on "Quality of Port Infrastructure," and #20 on "Quality of Roads."
Taxes also definitely don't qualify as being good in the U.S. We rank #69 on "Extent and Effect of Taxation," in which the "Effect" that's considered is reducing the "incentives to work or invest." We are #103 on "Total Tax Rate," #47 on "Number of Procedures Required to Start a Business" (which is an indirect tax), and #50 on "Prevalence of Trade Barriers" (both tariff and non-tariff).
The U.S, overall, is very far from being #1 -- not really in contention, at all, for the top spot. The individual rankings suggest instead that this nation is sinking towards the Third World. The 15 nations that stand high in most of the lists here are: Finland, Switzerland, Singapore, New Zealand, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Japan, Canada, Qatar, Netherlands, Iceland, Ireland, U.K., and Hong Kong.
By Eric Zuesse 4/15/2013 at 23:24:40
Two sets of international rankings were recently issued, one from UNICEF, "Child Well-Being in Rich Countries," and the other from the World Economic Forum, "The Global Competitiveness Report 2012-2013."
"Child Well-Being in Rich Countries" ranks 29 developed countries, according to the well-being of their children, on numerous factors.
The U.S. ranks #26 overall for "Child Well-Being." This overall rank includes: #26 for "Material Well-Being"; #28 for "Child Poverty Rates"; #25 for "Health and Safety"; #26 for "Infant Mortality Rates"; #26 for "Low Birthweight"; #22 for "Immunization Rates"; #27 for "Educational Well-Being"; #27 for "Preschool Enrollment Rates"; #25 for "Participation in Further Education"; #16 for "Educational Achievement by Age 15"; #29 for "Overweight"; #2 for "Exercise"; #29 for teen-pregnancy rates; #1 for "Alcohol" (U.S. receives the top rank for absence of drunkenness); #4 for "Smoking" (again, absence); #11 for "Fighting"; #12 for "Being Bullied"; #23 for "Housing"; #27 for "Homicide"; #3 for (lack of) "Air Pollution"; #23 for children's self-reported "Life Satisfaction"; and #28 for "Relationships with Parents and Peers."
The top-rated countries for child well-being, overall, in order, are: (1) Netherlands; (2) Norway; (3) Iceland; (4) Finland; (5) Sweden); (6) Germany; (7) Luxembourg; (8) Switzerland; (9) Belgium; and (10) Ireland.
------------
A much broader ranking-system, from the World Economic Forum, is "The Global Competitiveness Report 2012-2013," which ranks 144 countries, on a wide range of factors related to global economic competitiveness.
The U.S. ranks as #1 on only 4 out of the 117 different factors that are rated, and each of these 4 factors reflects merely the sheer size, the hugeness, of the U.S. economy. These four factors might thus collectively be identified as the Hugeness components: "GDP," "GDP as a Share of World GDP," "Available Airline Seat Kilometers," and "Domestic Market Size Index." Other than Hugeness, the results for the U.S. are not at all outstanding.
Health Care shows the U.S. ranking as #34 on "Life Expectancy," and as #41 on "Infant Mortality." (And, of course, unlike the "Infant Mortality" rankings from UNICEF, this ranking is among 144 countries. Thus: some underdeveloped countries actually have higher life-expectancy than does the U.S.)
Education in the U.S. is also apparently mediocre. On "Quality of Primary Education," we are #38. On "Primary Education Enrollment Rate," we are #58. On "Quality of the Educational System," we are #28. On "Quality of Math and Science Education," we are #47. On "Quality of Scientific Research Institutions," we are #6. On "PCT [Patent Cooperation Treaty] Patent Applications [per-capita]," we are #12. On "Firm-Level Technology Absorption" (which is an indicator of business-acceptance of inventions), we are #14.
Trust is likewise only moderately high in the U.S. We rank #10 on "Willingness to Delegate Authority," #42 on "Cooperation in Labor-Employer Relations," and #18 in "Degree of Customer Orientation" of firms.
Corruption seems to be a rather pervasive problem in the U.S. On "Diversion of Public Funds [due to corruption]," the U.S. ranks #34. On "Irregular Payments and Bribes" (which is perhaps an even better measure of lack of corruption) we are #42. On "Public Trust in Politicians," we are #54. On "Judicial Independence," we are #38. On "Favoritism in Decisions of Government Officials" (otherwise known as governmental "cronyism"), we are #59. On "Organized Crime," we are #87. On "Ethical Behavior of Firms," we are #29. On "Reliability of Police Services," we are #30. On "Transparency of Governmental Policymaking," we are #56. On "Efficiency of Legal Framework in Challenging Regulations," we are #37. On "Efficiency of Legal Framework in Settling Disputes," we are #35. On "Burden of Government Regulation," we are #76. On "Wastefulness of Government Spending," we are also #76. On "Property Rights" protection (the basic law-and-order measure), we are #42.
Investors evidently find somewhat shaky ground in the U.S. On "Strength of Investor Protection," we are #5. On "Protection of Minority Shareholders' Interests," we are #33. On "Efficacy of Corporate Boards," we are #23. On "Reliance on Professional Management," we are #19. On "Strength of Auditing and Reporting Standards," we are #37. On "Venture Capital Availability," we are #10. On "Intellectual Property Protection," we are #29. On "Soundness of Banks," we are #80. On "Regulation of Securities Exchanges," we are #39. On "Country Credit Rating," we are #11. On "Government Debt [as a % of GDP]," we are #136. On "Effectiveness of Anti-Monopoly Policy," we are #17. On "Extent of Market Dominance," we are #9.
Technology seems to be moderately good here. The U.S. ranks #14 on "Availability of Latest Technologies," #24 on "Internet Access in Schools," #20 on "Internet Users [%]," #33 on "Internet Bandwidth [per user]," and #8 on "Mobile Broadband Subscriptions [%]."
Infrastructure is apparently fairly good in the U.S. We rank #25 on "Quality of Overall Infrastructure," #33 on "Quality of Electricity Supply," #30 on "Quality of Air Transport Infrastructure," #19 on "Quality of Port Infrastructure," and #20 on "Quality of Roads."
Taxes also definitely don't qualify as being good in the U.S. We rank #69 on "Extent and Effect of Taxation," in which the "Effect" that's considered is reducing the "incentives to work or invest." We are #103 on "Total Tax Rate," #47 on "Number of Procedures Required to Start a Business" (which is an indirect tax), and #50 on "Prevalence of Trade Barriers" (both tariff and non-tariff).
The U.S, overall, is very far from being #1 -- not really in contention, at all, for the top spot. The individual rankings suggest instead that this nation is sinking towards the Third World. The 15 nations that stand high in most of the lists here are: Finland, Switzerland, Singapore, New Zealand, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Japan, Canada, Qatar, Netherlands, Iceland, Ireland, U.K., and Hong Kong.