US Falls to Twelveth Place on Prosperity Index

DATA DRIVEN VIEWPOINT: The latest Prosperity Index is out, and the news for America isn't good.  A few days before the election it will be easy, and very misleading, to fault President Obama (or President Bush) for the decline in America's wealth and well being among nations. It would be far more useful to begin a search for understanding our decline. Partisan and ideologically driven arguments should to be set aside. We must first analyze the data, methods and assumptions that have gone into this index to verify the findings and direct our efforts to understand the problems. (For example, how do we rank 20th in our economy while we still have the largest economy in the world?) We need to develop a consensus as to the relevant set of facts behind the numbers before we start espousing solutions. We should take this information not as an indictment of current or past leadership, but as a challenge to be solved.  I suspect we will find the problems and solutions are broader and deeper than government policies alone. I suspect that the answers will challenge some of our basic assumptions and philosophic viewpoints. 

The 2012 Legatum Global Prosperity Index of Wealth and Well Being

http://www.li.com/media/press-releases/2012-legatum-prosperity-index-american-dream-at-risk-in-key-election-year

The just released Global Prosperity Index finds the United States has fallen to 12th place in the world. This is the first time the US has not been in the top 10 group.  The Index is based on the Dubai-based Legatum Institute’s assessment of prosperity based on both material wealth and personal wellbeing in 142 different countries, in eight categories ranging from the economy and entrepreneurship to health and personal freedom. The top 25 nations ranking is as follows:

Prosperity Index
1 – Norway
2 – Denmark
3 – Sweden
4 – Australia
5 – New Zealand
6 – Canada
7 – Finland
8 – Netherlands
9 – Switzerland
10 – Ireland
11 – Luxembourg
12 – U.S.
13 – UK
14 – Germany
15 – Iceland
16 – Austria
17 – Belgium
18 – Hong Kong
19 – Singapore
20 – Taiwan
21 – France
22 – Japan
23 – Spain
24 – Slovenia
25 – Malta

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2227334/Scandinavian-countries-list-worlds-prosperous-nations–U-S-drops-time.html#ixzz2BCCN6dJl

There are eight categores by which national prosperity is judged.  The United States scored as follows on these eight categories:

Ranking    Catigory
    20         Economy
    12         Entrepreneurship /Opportunity
    10         Governance
      5         Education
      2         Health
     27        Safety/Security
     14        Personal Freedom
     10        Social Capital

DATA DRIVEN VIEWPOINT:  A few days before the election it will be easy, and very misleading, to fault President Obama (or President Bush) for the decline in America's wealth and well being among nations.  Far more useful would be to use these findings to begin a search for understanding our decline.  Partisan and ideologically driven arguments need to be set aside.  We should first analyze the data, methods and assumptions that have gone into this index to verify the findings.  (For example, how do we rank 20th in our economy while we still have the largest economy in the world?)  We need to develop a consensus as to the relevant facts behind the numbers before we start espousing solutions.  We should take this information not as an indictment of current leadership but as a challenge to be solved for I suspect we will find the problems and solutions are broader and deeper than government policies alone.  I suspect that the answers will challenge some of our basic assumptions and philosophic viewpoints.