Monday, April 06, 2020

Is the US a Developed Nation?

The United States of America is a developed economy, we are told. 

Inequality scores are higher in America than they are in Mali and Yemen.

In the US  the richest 5% of people own two-thirds of the national wealth.

There are 2.9 hospital beds for every 1,000 people in the United States. That’s fewer than Turkmenistan (7.4 beds per 1,000), Mongolia (7.0), Argentina (5.0) and Libya (3.7). 

In fact, the US ranks 69th out of 182 countries analyzed by the World Health Organization.

The United States has 2.6 doctors per 1,000 people, placing it behind Trinidad & Tobago (2.7), and Russia (4.0 doctors per 1,000)

Life expectancies at birth are lower in the US than they are in Chile or China. 

The US has a higher maternal mortality rate than Iran or Saudi Arabia.

And the US ranks 81st in the world in terms of women’s political representation. So, you’ve got a better chance of making it into office as a woman if you live in Vietnam, or Albania. 

Sub-Saharan Africa is most comparable to America - 24% of seats in the region’s parliaments are held by women, the same figure as in the US.

In the United States, 83% of students graduate high school. That figure is higher in Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Barbados, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as Montenegro. None of those countries are considered “developed economies” by the United Nations.

So why is the US considered as a developed economy when statistics  clearly suggest otherwise?

No comments: