USA Ranking on Adult Literacy Scale: #9
(#1 Sweden and #2 Norway) – OECD
USA Ranking on Healthcare Quality Index: #37
(#1 France and #2 Italy) – World Health Organization 2003
USA Ranking of Student Reading Ability: #12
(#1 Finland and #2 South Korea) – OECD PISA 2003
USA Ranking of Student Problem Solving Ability: #26
(#1 South Korea and #2 Finland) – OECD PISA 2003
USA Ranking on Student Mathematics Ability: # 24
(#1 Hong Kong and #2 Finland) – OECD PISA 2003
USA Ranking of Student Science Ability: #19
(#1 Finland and #2 Japan) – OECD PISA 2003
USA Ranking on Women’s Rights Scale: #17
(#1 Sweden and #2 Norway) – World Economic Forum Report
USA Position on Timeline of Gay Rights Progress: # 6 (1997)
(#1 Sweden 1987 and #2 Norway 1993) – Vexen
USA Ranking on Life Expectancy: #29
(#1 Japan and #2 Hong Kong) – UN Human Development Report 2005
USA Ranking on Journalistic Press Freedom Index: #32
(#1 Finland, Iceland, Norway and the Netherlands tied) – Reporters Without Borders 2005
USA Ranking on Political Corruption Index: #17
(#1 Iceland and #2 Finland) – Transparency International 2005
USA Ranking on Quality of Life Survey: #13
(#1 Ireland and #2 Switzerland) – The Economist Magazine, Wikipedia “Celtic Tiger” if you still have your doubts.
USA Ranking on Environmental Sustainability Index: #45
(#1 Finland and #2 Norway) – Yale University ESI 2005
USA Ranking on Overall Currency Strength: #3 (US Dollar)
(#1 UK pound sterling and #2 European Union euro) – FTSE 2006, the dollar is now a liability, so many banks worldwide have planned to switch to the euro.
USA Ranking on Infant Mortality Rate: #32
(#1 Sweden and #2 Finland) – Save the Children Report 2006
USA Ranking on Human Development Index (GDP, education, etc.): #10
(#1 Norway and #2 Iceland) – UN Human Development Report 2005
