Latest US News: PROSPERITY

The United States claims to be the most prosperous country in the world. Is it true? No, I don’t think that it is. Far from it. So why do they make that claim?

Prosperity, it seems, is measured by appraising these nine factors:

1. economic opportunities and growth

2. business environment

3. effective government with political participation

4. access to education

5. quality health care

6. national security and personal safety

7. personal freedoms

8. social support and civic participation

9. investment in natural resources


In the Top Ten we have these:

1. New Zealand

2. Norway

3. Finland

4. Switzerland

5. Canada

6. Australia

7. Netherlands

8. Sweden

9. Denmark

10. United Kingdom

>>>>>

17. U.S.A.

All according to:
https://mic.com/articles/157441/these-are-the-10-most-prosperous-countries-in-the-world#.xBLvf6b1U

But hey! Number 17 ain’t that bad, huh. Or is it?

When I think of Anaheim California I think of Angel Stadium & Disneyland


….. but ….

 

Sweden may have made that list 10 or 15 years ago.

Somewhat similar thing with the United Kingdom. Homelessness has now become a phenomena there.

I do question whether New Zealand is really #1.
I'm aware of one doctor who moved from New Zealand to Australia for better opportunities and higher income. This was at least 20 years ago, and that might only be the case for doctors.

Notice anything those countries on your list all have in common?

They're all in Northwestern Europe or were traditionally populated by people who mostly came from Northwestern Europe.

 

Yes, that's true. But are your conclusions geographically oriented or are they political-philosophy observations?

 

(click on picture to see a video clip of the episode this image frame was taken from)

 

The true measure of the "Health and prosperity of a nation" is captured in its number of business owners. I remember moving from Africa to Australia, South Africa a much more unequal society (even back then, it's now worse than ever)... you would find mostly CEO's at the top of a business.

Whereas in Australia I encountered many more business owners at the top of the chain. To me this is an indication of less corruption, healthy competition, a marketplace where small players still have something to offer, an economy for the middle class. People working for themselves are not slaves, even though they sometimes work much harder. Corporate workers are slaves, living from pay-check to pay-check.

One of the reasons New Zealand is at the top is because they make it easy for people to start and run their own business. Far less red tape and bureaucratic license requirements as opposed to Australia where small business owners face many regulations, requirements and expensive licenses just to operate.

China is also interesting, corruption is their main obstacle to small business, having to pay off numerous officials to start a business can kill it before it even open its doors.

 

I agree. I lived in Rhodesia "back then" and I have forever had my eye on what has been unfolding there ... and in the RSA. Not very good, actually.

I am sure that is all true.

I am from Sweden where we also "make it easy for people to start and run their own business". Our problem, however (from my unqualified perspective) is that we dole out money to starters too easily and fail to estimate the earnestness with which small businesses employ. Consequently, there are many who skim the awards of funded start capital and squeeze it dry then simply claim bankruptcy and start all over again.

 

Perhaps the USA may boast the largest number of, "wealthy," individuals? Yet USA citizens are living in a nation suffering: a failing infrastructure, lousy healthcare programs, diminishing educational performance, etc. Does it seem that no one in the USA is willing to pay the costs (tax dollars) necessary for achieving/maintaining these higher standards?

 

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You mean I pay while you reap the benefit?
I got an idea. Come shovel my ****ing driveway

 

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/quality-of-life-rankings

The 2019 Best Countries rankings, formed in partnership with BAV Group, a unit of global marketing communications company VMLY&R, and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, are based on a study that surveyed more than 20,000 global citizens from four regions to assess perceptions of 80 countries on 75 different metrics. The Quality of Life subranking is based on an equally weighted average of scores from nine country attributes that relate to quality of life in a country: affordable, a good job market, economically stable, family friendly, income equality, politically stable, safe, well-developed public education system and well-developed public health system. The Quality of Life subranking score had a 17 percent weight in the overall Best Countries ranking.

Quality of Life Rankings

• Canada
• Sweden
• Denmark
• Norway
• Switzerland
• Finland
• Australia
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Germany
  

 

Thanks for the anti-Americanism. However what you say is nonsense. Why not come and find out for yourself.

 

The poor American business environment can be blamed on the American left, which sees business as evil and regulates it to death.

 

But the American left isn't in 'power'...certainly hasn't been for the last two years.

 

I don’t think anyone ever claimed that the US is the most prosperous country. Prosperity can be measured in many ways.

Anyway, thread fail!

 

The left has gradually set up a society over the last century that has restricted our freedoms and shackled business. Undoing it would take another century.

 

and corporations have all but killed small business in the usa, the ones that still exist, must purchase their products from those same major corps, ergo negating 'competition' because they control market price... the usa is & has been in a downward spiral ever since 'big biz' was allowed to take over. our 'monopoly' laws have had the opposite effect of their intention, maybe by design???

 

Ah jeez...that means we're going to have to listen to RW whining about it for the rest of our foreseeable lives!

Should make for some very interesting Republican campaign slogans going forward...

Nothing we can do for the next 100 years, but I'm going to work on it

I'm making a start at making america great again

You can't blame me if things don't get better quickly

 

That is pretty much what I was thinking. I suppose we can spin statistics to make any nation "the most prosperous" (by leaving out some aspects and injecting others) and particularly the U.S. where nationalism & patriotism is more highly regarded than getting down to serious soul-searching and fact gathering. So, the average citizens wants to believe it, thinking it makes him/her personally distinguished.

So true.

Yes. But worse is that the citizen doesn't need to pay any more than he/she already pays and still raise higher standards. A lack of Democratic principles and political corruption are the culprits. That is where the tax dollars are going.

 

What was "anti-American" about it?

 

You say "the poor American business environment" suffers. But what about the rich American business environment?

 

Most certainly.

 

Not that I love regulation, but there is a problem with your hypothesis: most of the countries in the top 10 do that, and some more than us.

 

The point can be argued but those in the top 10 are where they are because of non-corrupt socialist values. The problem with the USSR (and its' satellite nations) was one of corruption, so being Socialist was no advantage. Strickly Capitalist nations are not high on the top 10 mainly because they are corrupt.

 

Every study says it's more difficult to begin and grow a business in the U.S. than most of the Western world. Why is that? Who is responsible for that?

 

Government has set up a system where it's very difficult to do business in the U.S.