9 signs declining ranking in u

8/3/2019 9 Signs Declining Ranking in u

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9 signs declining ranking in u.s.a

The sky isn't falling, exactly. America isn't on a fast track to irrelevance. Even in a

state of total neglect, we could probably shamble along as a disheveled superpowerfor a few more decades.

But all empires end, and the warning signs of American decline seem to be blinkingmore consistently. In the latest annual "prosperity index" published by theLegatum

Institute, a London-based research firm, the United States ranks as the ninth most

prosperous country in the world. That's five notches lower thanlast year, when

America ranked No. 4. The drop might seem inconsequential, especially in the midstof a grueling recessionexcept that most of the world has endured the samerecession, and other countries are bouncing back faster.

China and India have recovered smartly from the recession, for example. Brazil

seems to be barreling ahead. Australia is growing faster than expected, promptingworry amonggovernmentofficials who fear they may have overstimulated the

economy. The United States, meanwhile, is muddling through a weak, joblessrecovery, and we have a lot of problems that could make prosperity feel elusive for along time.

[See4 problems that could sink America.]

Real household income in America has flat-lined, for instance, which means many

middle-class families are barely keeping up with inflation. The exploding federal

deficit hamstrings the government's ability to help. Healthcare is too expensive,America's manufacturing base is eroding, and two open-ended foreign wars aredraining the national treasury. This is not a recipe for building national wealth.

There are still millions of diligent, innovative Americans who could help the nation dig

out of its hole. But overall, the American population is falling behind, by a variety ofmeasures. Here are some of them:

Jobs. TheInternational Monetary Fundpredicts that the U.S. unemployment rate will

be 9.3 percent for all of 2010. That's lower than in some European nations, but it'shigher than in Canada and a lot worse than most countries in Scandinavia and Asia.Overall, the U.S. unemployment rate is about average for advanced economies and

likely to stay that way. It could be worse, but middlingjobcreation isn't a sign ofglobal leadership.

[See7 ways to survive the jobless recovery.]
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Economic growth.The IMF also predicts that the U.S. economy will grow 1.9

percent in 2010. That's a tad better than the average for all advanced economies,

but at least 10 developed nations will grow faster. Woo-hoo. Three cheers formediocrity.

Poverty. The U.S. poverty rate, about 17 percent, is third worst among the

advanced nations tracked by the Organization for Economic Cooperation andDevelopment. In that sample, only Turkey and Mexico are worse.

Education.American 15-year-olds scorebelow the averagefor advanced nations on

math and science literacy. But don't worry, our nation's future leaders are still aheadof their peers in Mexico, Turkey, Greece, and a few other places.

Competitiveness. In the latestglobal competitiveness reportfrom the WorldEconomic Forum, the United States fell from No. 1 to No. 2. Sure, let's consoleourselves that the No. 1 country, Switzerland, is a tiny outlier nation and that getting

bumped from the top spot doesn't really mean anything. Add an asterisk, and we'restill No. 1.

[See5 myths about the economic "recovery."]

Prosperity. The most prosperous nations, according to the Legatum report, areFinland, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. These fairly homogenousEuropean countries are the teachers' pets of global rankings, often appearing near

the top because of right-sized economies and a relatively small underclass. For a

huge economy like America's, a No. 9 ranking is still respectable. And part of thedrop from last year's No. 4 spot is a change in methodology that puts more emphasison the health and safety of citizens. Still, in the index's subrankings, the United

States isn't even in the top 10 for economic fundamentals, safety and security, orgovernance. We should do better.

Health. In the Legatum study, the United States ranks 27th for the health of itscitizens. Life expectancy in America is below the average for 30 advanced countriesmeasured by the OECD, and the obesity rate in America is the worst among those 30

countries, by far. And, of course, we spend far more on healthcare per person thananybody elsebut get no bang for the extra buck.

Well-being. In the United Nations'Human Development Index, which attempts tomeasure the overall well-being of citizens throughout the world, the United States

ranks 13th, one notch lower than in the prior set of rankings. Norway, Australia,Iceland, and Canada are at the top.

[See4 countries with better healthcare than ours.]

Happiness. The United States ranks 11th in the OECD's measure of "life

satisfaction"behind Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, and other usual suspects.That's not bad, but the United States is one of only five countries where life

satisfaction is going down, not up. The other downer nations are Portugal, Hungary,Canada, and Japan. Plus, the research behind these rankings predates the recession,so it's likely that Americans are a lot less satisfied these days.
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The overall portrait of America isn't exclusively gloomy, and in some areas we still

seem to have an important edge. The Legatum prosperity index, for example, ranks

America first for entrepreneurship and innovation. And in aGfK Roper surveyof hownations rate as global "brands," America rocketed from No. 7 in 2008 to No. 1 in2009, largely because the world cheered the election of Barack Obama as U.S.

president. But a brand-name leader can't just strong-arm his nation back to

greatness. He needs a lot of help from educated, healthy, and employed citizensdetermined to spread the wealth.
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9 signs declining ranking in u

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