U.S. said to be only 12th most prosperous country - Legatum Institute

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Surveys are surveys. That said the Legatum Institute, a self-proclaimed "independent non-partisan public policy organization whose research, publications, and programmes advance ideas and policies in support of free and prosperous societies around the world" has just published a report saying that the U.S. has fallen out of the top 10 (to 12th) in 'most prosperous country ranking'.

The survey, as shown in the following table, ranks countries on eight different attributes, and then consolidates those attributes into an 'overall ranking'.

Whether or not meaningful or even accurate, it is at least interesting to note that out of 142 countries the United States is ranked:

• 20th as a world economy;
  
• 12th in 'entrepreneurship and opportunity'. Think of that in the context of the American mantra of 'we are the best at innovation';
  
• 27th in safety and security; and,
  
• only 14th in personal freedom, and interesting survey finding given the U.S. Constitution's 1st (freedom of speech) and 2nd (right to carry arms) amendments.

Something to think about both generally, and in the context of the U.S. and world financial markets.

Topical Reference: U.S. slips out of top 10 most prosperous countries, while Canada keeps No. 6 ranking, from The Financial Post, from Bloomberg News, November 5, 2012 - reading time 4 minutes.