Freedom Fries & Standard of Living
Following the stats on international tourism from the last entry, I googled to find some older numbers to see how the ranking may have changed? So far I haven't found anything to compare but I *did* find another interesting article {which btw, also quotes the same tourism stats I posted from another site}. It's on standard of living.
Apparently, the USA has dropped from its #1 spot of 21 YEARS in a row to 6th place in this category.
And again, the winner is France -- lol. So much for Freedom Fries.
At #2 there's Switzerland, followed by Australia.
"Why the United States has fallen"
The United States falls from the top position it held in this {STANDARD OF LIVING} Index for 21 years in a row, to take sixth place this year. Although its score hasn't dropped dramatically (its final score last year was 86, compared with 82 this year), a few points are worth making.
Its economic performance over the past year has slowed slightly, and this is reflected in our Index (it gets an Economy score of 90 this year, compared with its 92 rating last year). According to the OECD (www.oecd.org), "with the gradual withdrawal of monetary and fiscal stimulus and much higher oil prices, growth has slowed slightly as output has approached capacity limits and inflation pressures have begun to build. Although the impact of Hurricane Katrina is still subject to substantial uncertainty, prospects for a soft landing are good. Nonetheless, policy action in some areas would be helpful in unwinding imbalances that have emerged and sustaining favorable economic performance."
More than the current economic uncertainties, though, it is the ongoing and increasing infringements of personal freedoms in this country that account primarily for its fall from first place in our Index. While other First World countries receive the top score of 100 in our Freedom category, the U.S. gets but 92 points. {Made me laugh.}
The United States remains, inarguably, the world's most convenient place to live {as in drive-thrus? hehe}. But, we argue, and our Survey this year maintains, that convenience is not the most important factor in determining any country's quality of life.
Source & whole article with other stats here -- very interesting but not really surprising:
http://www.internationalliving.com/qol06
That said,
The economy of California is often cited on how it would compare to other countries if California were an independent nation. Stats vary -- but they usually place it between the ranks of 6th and 10th as stand-alone economic power. So... what would happen to the rest of the USA if California were its own country? Highly theoretical but an interesting thought.
Apparently, the USA has dropped from its #1 spot of 21 YEARS in a row to 6th place in this category.
And again, the winner is France -- lol. So much for Freedom Fries.
At #2 there's Switzerland, followed by Australia.
"Why the United States has fallen"
The United States falls from the top position it held in this {STANDARD OF LIVING} Index for 21 years in a row, to take sixth place this year. Although its score hasn't dropped dramatically (its final score last year was 86, compared with 82 this year), a few points are worth making.
Its economic performance over the past year has slowed slightly, and this is reflected in our Index (it gets an Economy score of 90 this year, compared with its 92 rating last year). According to the OECD (www.oecd.org), "with the gradual withdrawal of monetary and fiscal stimulus and much higher oil prices, growth has slowed slightly as output has approached capacity limits and inflation pressures have begun to build. Although the impact of Hurricane Katrina is still subject to substantial uncertainty, prospects for a soft landing are good. Nonetheless, policy action in some areas would be helpful in unwinding imbalances that have emerged and sustaining favorable economic performance."
More than the current economic uncertainties, though, it is the ongoing and increasing infringements of personal freedoms in this country that account primarily for its fall from first place in our Index. While other First World countries receive the top score of 100 in our Freedom category, the U.S. gets but 92 points. {Made me laugh.}
The United States remains, inarguably, the world's most convenient place to live {as in drive-thrus? hehe}. But, we argue, and our Survey this year maintains, that convenience is not the most important factor in determining any country's quality of life.
Source & whole article with other stats here -- very interesting but not really surprising:
http://www.internationalliving.com/qol06
That said,
The economy of California is often cited on how it would compare to other countries if California were an independent nation. Stats vary -- but they usually place it between the ranks of 6th and 10th as stand-alone economic power. So... what would happen to the rest of the USA if California were its own country? Highly theoretical but an interesting thought.