What follows is a 2:27 video showing the relationship between economic freedom and quality of life. What is drastically more important is the list of 191 nations that follows and the United States’ mathematical ranking on it. I received the list in a email titled ‘Buckle Up’ which always tells me to place the barf bucket close to the desk before opening…
Economic Freedom & Quality of Life!
Are you ready? (And remember, this is a 2010 estimated amount…)
The United States ranks last among all nations in the world when it comes to its current account balance, astronomically lower than every other economy, the CIA reports.
The next closest nation to the U.S. is Spain, and though it’s ranked at No. 190, its account balance is negative $66 billion, far less than the American figure.
The CIA defines current account balance as “a country’s net trade in goods and services, plus net earnings from rents, interest, profits, and dividends, and net transfer payments (such as pension funds and worker remittances) to and from the rest of the world during the period specified.”
Topping the list on the positive side is China, with an account balance of $272 billion. It’s followed by Japan, Germany, Russia and Norway.
Rounding out the top ten are Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Singapore and Taiwan.
Besides the U.S. and Spain at the bottom of the list, the remainder of the worst ten are Italy, France, Brazil, United Kingdom, Canada, Turkey, Australia and India.
Greece, which has been making headlines for its financial problems for months and has seen economic-related violence escalate in recent days, is ranked at 180 with an account balance of negative $17 billion.
The U.S. is not at the bottom of every CIA list. In fact, it’s ranked No. 1 in the world when it comes to external debt.
With a whopping $13.98 trillion as of June 2010, the U.S. holds the dubious distinction of top debtor, just ahead of the European Union, whose debt is listed at $13.72 trillion.
(H/T BB)
See what happens when the bankers and the political class run everything for 120 years?
