With all this talk by Clinton and others about how "America" and "We"
are "number One", I just thought we might talk about some of the
areas in which "America" is "Number One" among 19 industrialized
countries. The following was taken from "We're Number One: Where
America Stands--and Falls--in the New World Order" by Andrew L.
Shapiro, Vintage, N.Y. 1992
Among 19 Industrialized Nations, America Stands "Number One" in:
(in terms of rates--per 100,000 or per capita)
1. No 1 in Billionaires (and No 1 in Children Living in Poverty)
2. No 1 in Health Care Absolute and Per Capita Expenditures (and
No. 15 in Life Expectancy)
3. No 1 in Total Health Spending (and No. 13 in Public Health
Spending)
4. No 1 in Wealth and Income Inequality and No 16 in Percentage of
Total Income Held by Poorest 40% of the Population
5. No 1 in Percentage of Population without Health Care Coverage
6. No 1 in NOT Providing Paid Maternity Leave (or No. 19 in providing
paid maternity leave as 0 weeks are provided)
7. No 1 in Abortion and No. 11 in use of Contraceptives
8. No 1 in Percentage of Pregnancies Ending in Abortion and no. 1 in
Abortions Obtained by Women Who have had an Abortion Before
9. No 1 in Teenage Pregnancy and No 1 in Teenage Mothers under 14
Years Old
10. No 1 in Infant Mortality and No. 1 in Percentage of Infants Born
at Low Birth Weight, No 1 in Preschoolers NOT Fully Immunized and No.
1 in Death of children Under 5 years-old;
11. No 1 in AIDS, No 1 in Incidence of Cancer Among Men, No 1 in
Incidence of Breast Cancer and No 13 in Death Due to Breast Cancer;
12. No 1 in Beef Consumption Per Capita, No 1 in Coronary Bypass
Operations Per Capita, No 1 in Snack Food Consumption
13. No 1 in Divorce Rate
14 No 1 in Single-Parent Families;
15. No 2 in Cigarette Consumption and No 4 in Alcohol Consumption per
Capita
16. No 1 in Highest-paid Athletes and No 19 in Teacher' Salaries
17. No 1 in Private Spending on Education and No 1 in Higher
Education Enrollment and No 17 in Public Spending on Education,
No 11 in Years of Free Full-time Compulsory Education, No 9 in
Early Childhood Education, 15 in Scientists and Technicians per
Capita, and No 19 in Math Proficiency Scores on Internationally
Standardized Tests
18. No 1 in Big Homes and No 1 in Homelessness
19. No 1 in Defense Spending and No 19 in Spending on the Poor, the
Aged, and the Disabled
20. No 1 in % of Research and Development Spending on Defense, No 1
in Military Aid to Developing Countries and No 19 in Humanitarian Aid
to Developing countries
21. No 1 in Net Indebtedness, No 19 in National Saving and Investment
Rates (as % of GDP)
22. No 1 in Bank Failures and Bank Bailouts
23. No 1 in Managers, No 1 in Executive Salaries, No 1 in Ratio of
Average Executive Salary to average worker (pay inequality)
24. No 15 in average female wage as % of average male wage
25. No 1 in U.N. Dues Owed/Not Paid and No 1 in U.N. Security Council
Vetos since 1980
26. No 1 in Percentage of Population who have been a victim of a
crime, No 1 in Murder Rate, No 1 in Murder of Children and No 1 in
Reported Rapes
27. No 1 in Deaths by Gun, No 1 in Deaths by Capital Punishment, No 1
in percentage of murders still at large, and No 14 in percentage of
murders solved
28 No 1 in Number of people killed in car accidents due to drunk
driving
29. Number 1 in Lawyers and No 1 in Litigation and No 1 in Rates of
Incarceration
30 No 1 in emissions of air pollutants per capita and No 1 in
controbution to acid rain, No 1 in garbage per capita, No 1 in paper
use per capita, No 1 in Junk Mail, No 1 in Hazardous Waste and No 14
in recycling paper and No 16 in recycling glass
31 No 1 in gasoline consumption per capita and No 1 in rate of
increase in oil imports, No 1 in Major Oil Spills Affecting Coastal
Areas, No 1 in Autos Per Capita and No 1 in use of Autos in Lieu of
Available Public Transport,
32. No 1 in TVs and Radios per capita, No 1 in time spent watching
TV, No 1 in percentage of homes with VCRs and No 18 in daily
newspaper circulation per capita and No 19 in Book Titles published
per capita
Jim Craven
*------------------------------------------------------------------*
* James Craven *"Concern for man himself must always *
* Dept of Economics * constitute the chief objective of *
* Clark College * all technological effort, concern *
* 1800 E. McLoughlin Blvd. * for the big, unsolved problems of *
* Vancouver, Wa. 98663 * how to organize human work and the *
* (360) 992-2283 * distribution of commodities in such *
* [EMAIL PROTECTED] * a manner as to assure that the *
* * results of our scientific thinking *
* * may be a blessing to mankind,and not *
* * a curse. *
* * Never forget this when you are *
* * pondering over your diagrams and *
* * equations!" *
* * (Albert Einstein, Speech at Cal. *
* * Inst. Technology Feb, 16, 1931) *
* MY EMPLOYER HAS NO ASSOCIATION WITH MY PRIVATE/PROTECTED OPINION *
