US Is Not Number One

Almost like a football cheer, many folks would be quick to chant, "US is number one!"

But, sadly, the US is not number one in many areas.

The US is not number one in per capita income, in life expectancy, in infant mortality, in literacy rate. We don't have the tallest buildings or the fastest trains in the world. And Americans are not the tallest people in the world (we once were, but now it's the Dutch).

(I probably shouldn't even get started on education. Finland, for example, has 93% of its high school students graduate; in the US, it's 75.5%. And on worldwide standardized tests of school kids' achievement in science and math, the US rates nowhere near the top but only in the middle of the pack.)

Now the latest report calls attention to the state of US infrastructure. In the latest report, the US ranked number 6 among the world's countries, and, in an update expected to come out next month, the US will be rated number 12.

The deteriorating US infrastructure--deteriorating roads and bridges--is costing jobs and economic growth. More money needs to be spent on infrastructure.

But, with "spending" now a dirty word in the US Congress, due to the new power of Tea Party members of Congress, that is not going to happen.

Update, September 15, 2011
Here is an article on the US' standing in education rankings: http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2011/09/14/the-world-is-becoming-more-educated-than-the-u-s/?icid=maing-grid7|maing5|dl24|sec3_lnk1|95582

Update, July 28, 2012
A recent article says the US ranks 16th in percentage of "college attainment."
Copyright (c) 2011 by Richard Stein