United States

Scoring more highly in Economic Competitiveness (7th) than in Comparative Liveability (11th), the United States shares the overall 4th spot in the Index with Germany and Singapore. The USA performs well on most indicators, including religious faith, which is unusual for a wealthy country.

The United States remains the epitome of a successful market economy, delivering high levels of Economic Competitiveness to successive generations of its citizens. The huge US domestic market is approximately one quarter larger than the eurozone, and has an unusually high level of private consumption as a percentage of GDP (70%).

The success of the US economy is due in part to a long-standing, non-partisan consensus in support of private enterprise and minimal state intervention. This has created an excellent regulatory environment for competitiveness and entrepreneurship -- helping to ensure that the large amount of capital investment that the US generates and attracts is efficiently allocated. This is reflected in an excellent score for quality of regulation, as reported by the World Bank.

The United States’ high mass education rates produce a well-trained workforce, with on average 4.26 years of secondary education per worker, but do not reach the levels attained at the very top of the Index. At the top end of the human capital spectrum, however, the United States remains at the vanguard of technological development and its application for commercial purposes. The USA enjoys a large research workforce, and, according to the National Science Foundation, US spending on research and development is greater than in the rest of the G-8 countries combined. This results in a large number of patents being filed.

The United States attains an excellent level of Comparative Liveability, supported by high income levels and driven by high levels of community involvement, which is evidenced by high levels of support for charitable causes. Many Americans balance a commitment to work with a strong focus on the family and an active religious life. Nearly half of Americans attend a religious ceremony at least once a week.

The US also performs well in terms of women’s participation in work, which is crucial to personal choice and economic vitality. 54% of professionals in the US are women according to the ILO, suggesting a good level of equality of opportunity, although the US lags behind on the number of women in parliament compared to other OECD countries.

Although the U.S. economic pie is large and growing, it is not shared equitably. Income inequality has been increasing since the 1970s, and wealth has not trickled down to the lowest earners, who are disproportionately ethnic minorities. According to the WHO, the United States spends more on healthcare per capita than any other country and yet is ranked 37th in the world in terms of performance, scoring below many European countries on both satisfaction with health and health-adjusted life expectancy.

Nonetheless, the World Bank’s measures of both government effectiveness and political rights and civil liberties place the USA among the world’s best, making a key contribution to the life satisfaction of the American people.