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The recent release of the United Nation's HDI (Human Development Index) compares a range of statistical data to determine the places in the world with the highest standard of living...
1. Norway
2. AUSTRALIA
3. Iceland
4. Canada
5. Ireland
6. Netherlands
7. Sweden
8. France
9. Switzerland
10. Japan
13. UNITED STATES
I was surprised that they each ranked as high as they did. I would have thought Australia would have been in the 7th-12th range and the U.S. in the high teens.
The change in methodology aided the US as it factors years of "schooling of adults." American adults tend to have more years of schooling than many nations. Some felt the change was unjustified and I'm not sure how I even feel on it. When you remove "mean years of schooling of adults" the US falls to 16th and Australia stays second. So we drop below New Zealand, Finland, Switzerland, Denmark, South Korea, Spain, France, and some others. Although when you drop the "adult schooling" factor the US is still listed as above Sweden, Britain, Germany, Japan, and Austria.
If you want an index where the US looks worse there's the "Inequality Adjusted HDI." Norway and Australia are still top-2 on that, but Sweden jumps to third. The US drops to something like 23rd which is below not just Britain, Germany, Austria, and Sweden but also below Italy and Slovakia to be barely above Estonia. Also the Inequality-Adjusted HDI places us below the average for "Very High Human Development."
The recent release of the United Nation's HDI (Human Development Index) compares a range of statistical data to determine the places in the world with the highest standard of living...
1. Norway
2. AUSTRALIA
3. Iceland
4. Canada
5. Ireland
6. Netherlands
7. Sweden
8. France
9. Switzerland
10. Japan
13. UNITED STATES
Very large nation with lots of natural resources and a relatively small population.
That's an easy recipe for high quality of life. Canada is much the same way.
The US has 312 Million people. That would overwhelm Australia's resources very quickly.
The change in methodology aided the US as it factors years of "schooling of adults." American adults tend to have more years of schooling than many nations. Some felt the change was unjustified and I'm not sure how I even feel on it. When you remove "mean years of schooling of adults" the US falls to 16th and Australia stays second. So we drop below New Zealand, Finland, Switzerland, Denmark, South Korea, Spain, France, and some others. Although when you drop the "adult schooling" factor the US is still listed as above Sweden, Britain, Germany, Japan, and Austria.
If you want an index where the US looks worse there's the "Inequality Adjusted HDI." Norway and Australia are still top-2 on that, but Sweden jumps to third. The US drops to something like 23rd which is below not just Britain, Germany, Austria, and Sweden but also below Italy and Slovakia to be barely above Estonia. Also the Inequality-Adjusted HDI places us below the average for "Very High Human Development."
Seems to be big problem in the USA, read a credit suisse report the other day that said the average $US wealth per adult in the USA and Australia are very similar. The median wealth of adults in the USA however, was only about 1/4 of what is was in Australia, Switzerland and a few other countries.
Last edited by danielsa1775; 11-06-2011 at 09:58 PM..
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