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Prosperity Index Ranks The U.S. Number 10 In The World

Libby Kane
Libby Kane
Posted on October 25, 2010

Power And Prosperity Are Unequal.

Break out the Freedom Fries: America is the tenth most prosperous country in the world, as judged by the Prosperity Index.

The Prosperity Index Isn’t Impressed

The Prosperity Index measures economic strength, but also factors contributing to a prosperous nation, such as health, education, governance, and personal freedom. The Legatum Institute released its 2010 rankings, and both the U.S. and U.K. fell from their respective 2009 rankings of 9 and 12. While news outlets such as TIME and bloggers such as Business Pundit bristle at the rankings, we have to imagine that headlines in Norway are considerably more celebratory.

For your own judgment, the top 10 most prosperous countries in the world:

1. Norway
2. Denmark
3. Finland
4. Australia
5. New Zealand
6. Sweden
7. Canada
8. Switzerland
9. Netherlands
10. United States

Tell us in the comments: What do you think held the U.S. back from a higher spot on the list?

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  • Anonymous

    We are low on the list because of our education. It stinks! Anyone see the movie “Waiting for Superman”??? Run to see it!

    • Marnie

      Totally agree. Haven’t seen it yet, but our education system is abysmal. nnAlso the lousy health care. And the lack of income mobility… pretty much all we have going for us is a lot of military power and some high-quality media.

      • Anonymous

        In my book it’s all about health care. Income mobility is a good point. I hadn’t thought about that. nYour take on what we have going for us is correct, but depressing.

        • LM708

          I agree – it’s definitely health care and education together, but I would emphasize healthcare more because with 40 million Americans (the latest stats might be higher) living without health insurance, it’s a big problem. Without proper healthcare, the population doesn’t have good health (read: 2/3 of Americans overweight), and these negative health outcomes limit the ability of kids to study well in school and adults to do well at work and earn as much money as they would be able to if they were healthy.

  • Anonymous

    LearnVesters, why do think we are so low on the list? I agree with @monoclemom that our education system is a big part of what’s holding us back?nCheers,nCaroline nLearnVest’s Chief Content and Community Officer

  • http://www.globalsherpa.org GlobalSherpa

    The Legatum index does an admirable job of going beyond core key criteria (income, education, and health care) to consider other u201cdevelopment foundationsu201d like u201centrepreneurship and opportunityu201d and u201csocial capital.u201d Interestingly, the study finds that entrepreneurship and appetite for risk correlate most closely with a nationu2019s overall prosperity. The U.S. does well in this category by ranking 3rd. The U.S. gets hurt most by the Safety & Security category where it only manages 25th. rnrnA relatively small, homogenous population also makes it hard to compare Norway directly to much larger, more diverse countries like the U.S. Norwayu2019s 4.9 million people consist predominantly of ethnic Norwegians (83.8 percent) and Lutherans (82.1 percent). This seems to give it an advantage in being easier to govern and sustaining a high level of social capital as the Legatum study defines it. rnrnJason rnwww.globalsherpa.org/norway-1-prosperity-rankingrn