MIT BUSINESS

MIT BUSINESS 15 Ways The United States Is The Best (At Being The Worst) Maxwell Seriatim.: 10/29/2013 We hear it all the time, from every corner of the political sphere: There's no other country on the planet quite like the United States of America. Such pronouncements are typically of the rah-rah variety, and it's indisputably true that this country is exceptional in a large number of ways. But that is not always necessarily a good thing. Here's what we mean: The U.S. joins Lesotho, Swaziland and New Guinea as the only countries in the world not to mandate paid leave for mothers of newborns. Sotuce: International Labour Organization THE HUFFINGTON POST Wage of 9 EFTA01074475 Canada Switzerland Australia United Kingdom United States We're also the only "advanced economy" that doesn't require companies to give workers paid vacation. Working days 35 25 15 10 30 LL2$ 10 24 111 20 8 20 Sourcc antes for Economic Polky and Research 20 Paid holidays • Paid vacation 9 10 10 0 THE HUFFINGTON POST We don't even guarantee workers paid sick days. Calculations are based on paid sick leave guaranteed to workers facing five days of missed work for the flu or a cancer treatment requiring SO missed days. Days paid sack leave for • 50-day cancer treatment ❑ 5-day flu Germany Italy I F Japan 0 rance 22 15 24 29 28 44 Source: Cann for Economic Micy and Research THE HUFFINGTON POST 2age of 9 EFTA01074476 We spend the most per student on education, but outcomes aren't great. Expenditure per student, all education levels, in U.S. dollars $15,171 $10,878 L United States United Kingdom $10,596 Japan $10,182 France $2,993 L-©•1 Mexico Average student performance on the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), age 15 Japan United Kingdom France 529 500 497 ► 496 United States Mexico Source. OECD 420 THE HUFFINGTON POST We spend more on our military than any other country. Five countries with the highest military expenditures, in billions of U.S. dollars S $166 $90.7 $60.8 $59.3 China Russia United Kingdom Japan Source: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Wage of 9 THE HUFFINGTON POST EFTA01074477 We export more weapons than any country in the world. Percentage of export market share us",:ds ES ES EVID ES ES ES ES ES ES ES Nib MI IS ES Deb Mb DUD Nil IS 30% NI ES IS ES NI DM Pall IPa Pa PaS Russia ES IS IAD ES EIND ES ES ES ES IS DI EAPa Pa P:AIDIPNIPa31 IS ES ES Eall ES ES 26% Germany ES IS ES E* ES 7% France ESQ ES DIM ES ES IS 6% China NO ES ES ES 5% Source. Srockholm low/national Peace Research ',mini re THE HUFFINGTON POST We incarcerate more of our population than any other country. Number of prisoners per 100.000 population United States ie•%nnflnd Cmmr‘mmrimmr‘mmr‘mmr‘mm7 — 527 Rwanda VP gall VVVII Cuba Cso lids res ditra 510 Cadab Russia Ca a a a= 490 V %air V El Salvador CS I Se larl an 425 Azerbaijan ICS= Ieeth i 407 d I % Panama CS I Sim 392 ga 716 Sourer: Worldwide: InimixionalCenue (or Prison Audio M of Maim 2013 THE HUFFINGTON POST Maga of 9 EFTA01074478 No other country has nearly as many guns as people. Number of guns per 100 people Russia 8.9 France 31.2 Italy 11.9 Switzerland 45.7 States %BS/ Japan 0.6 Australia 15 Sources:: UNODC, Small Arms Sung. Guardian Datablog, WInhinves Americans consume more calories from sweeteners on average each day than anyone else in the world. 351 261 Calories 227 125 86 III 02 THE HUFFINGTON POST 621 595 564 448 111• • 211 0 2 I. Soong:Crag Slew Group Slaage of 9 THE HUFFINGTON POST EFTA01074479 We also consume the most calories—a whopping 3770 on average a day. Americans consume about twice as many calories as people in Haiti. Source: Food and Agriculture Organizations of the United Nations THE HUFFINGTON POST The United States spends more on health care than other industrialized countries. — Per capita spending (Percentage of GDP) $5,099 $4,522 $4,448 (11.2%) (10.9%) (11.6%) (8.9%) $4,118 ril'439%) 4 (11.9%) $3,800 Netherlands $3,182 (10.3%) $5,669 (9.3%) g Z $3,925 (9.5%) $5,643 (11.0%) t $3,405 (9.4%) $8,508 (17.7%) A E I -O $1. E2 Notes: Dan is from 2011 or neuest year. Netherlands spending measured as current expenditure. New Zealand numbers exclude investments. Source: OECD Health Data 2013 6IPage of 9 THE HUFFINGTON POST EFTA01074480 Prescription drug costs are just one reason health care costs so much. Cymbalta costs 2012 Lipitor costs 2012 $200 S176 $150 $100 $50 $47 $48 0 584 D tL D es `E$70 $160 $120 580 $40 $124 1 E 2 Din 548 $43 $39 c ▪ .t. 73 • E :z es c n c c D En 0 Sie < $13 Source: International Federation of Health Plans. 2012 THE HUFFINGTON POST More babies die the day they are born in the U.S. than in any industrialized country. First-day mortality rate (per 1,000 live births) United States Canada Switzerland Latvia Australia 2.62 Source: Save the Children Mage of 9 1.55 1.5 2 2.2 2.4 2.5 3 THE HUFFINGTON POST EFTA01074481 We're the best at creating super-rich people, at the expense of everyone else. Ultra high net worth individuals in selected countries, 2013 Sweden • Hong Kong • Korea • Turkey • Spain • Taiwan • Brazil • India • Russia IN Australia IN Canada Italy MO France l= Japan =I UK MI Switzerland Germany China U.S. 0 • 550M-S100M • S100M-S500M ■ $500M-S113 MI More than SIB 10.000 20.000 30.000 40.000 50.000 Source: Credit Suit& Research THE HUFFINGTON POST Inequality in the U.S. is the worst in the industrialized world. Changes in top income shares and top marginal tax rates since 1960 (combining both central and local government income taxes) 0 ••••• 10 • 8 F I 6 • I 4 S' 2 be I?: 0 C• _c • U.S. • U.K. • Portugal -40 -30 -20 -10 Change in top marginal income tax rate (percentage points) Elasticity=.47 (.11) 0 • Ireland Nonvay • Canada • Italy •Australia • New Zealand Denmark • Japan Sweden • Source Journal of Economic Pomp:craws !Wage of 9 Spain 10 THE HUFFINGTON POST EFTA01074482 The U.S. is in the top left corner in the above chart -- showing how the country stands out when it comes to income gains by the top i percent of earners since 1960. The gains are plotted against changes in marginal income tax rates. The U.S. comes in second (just behind Britain) when it comes to handing these tax breaks out to our highest earners. 9IPage of 9 EFTA01074483