U.S Still Leads the World in Innovation, Despite Economic Crisis; America Also Strong on Personal Freedom and Community Life, Finds Legatum Prosperity Index

U.S Still Leads the World in Innovation, Despite Economic Crisis; America Also
Strong on Personal Freedom and Community Life, Finds Legatum Prosperity Index
Finland is the Most Prosperous Nation Overall, While the United States, Ranked
9th, is the Top-Performing Large Nation. Poor Performance on Health Drags the
U.S. Down

LONDON, October 26 /PRNewswire/ -- The third edition of the Legatum
Prosperity Index, published today, ranks 104 countries (covering 90% of the
world's population), based on a definition of prosperity that combines
economic growth together with measures of happiness and quality of life.
Finland tops the Index, with the U.S. ranking ninth out of 104 countries in
the Index, ahead of large European nations such as Britain, Germany and
France, which all still make the top 20. Finland is narrowly ahead of
Switzerland, Sweden and Denmark; Zimbabwe ranks last, following Yemen and
Sudan.
"From Bobby Kennedy to France's current President, Nicolas Sarkozy,
influential thinkers have lamented that economic growth alone is not
sufficient for prosperity," said Dr. William Inboden, Senior Vice President
of the Legatum Institute. "The Legatum Prosperity Index is the world's only
global assessment of both wealth and wellbeing," he continued. "Among the
world's larger nations, the US is the world leader: it has achieved great
prosperity through high levels of innovation and entrepreneurship, robust
commitment to personal freedom, and governing institutions that generally
foster economic growth. Having a balance with strong families and
communities, political and religious liberty, education, and opportunity is
also critically important," concluded Dr. Inboden.
The U.S. scores first globally in the measure of Entrepreneurship and
Innovation, a gauge of which countries possess the greatest ability to
commercialize ideas and launch new enterprises in the near future. The US has
some weaknesses, however, ranking 27th globally on health, and 19th in the
world on safety and security. Key Findings from the 2009 Legatum Prosperity
Index:

- The U.S. ranks 1st in the world in Entrepreneurship and
Innovation and 2nd in the world in the strength of Democratic
Institutions.

- Two other areas of American strength are Education (7th
globally), and Social Capital (also 7th globally).

- The U.S. performs worst in the health category, ranking 27th in
the world. Dissatisfaction with their overall health is dragging down
Americans' sense of well-being, affecting their determination to get
ahead and their faith in their healthcare system.

- Ranking 19th globally, safety and security is another relative
weakness of the U.S. Lower scores are driven by the large number of
people in the US who feel they live in unsafe places, coupled with a
high per capita murder rate relative to other developed nations.

- The U.S. ranks 16th globally on Governance, indicating that
Americans believe that there is too much corruption in their government
and sometimes doubt the honesty of elections. The United States' laws
and regulations are generally seen to foster economic growth, but
government's negative effects pull down its citizens' quality of life.

- Northern Europe dominates the top five spots in the Index:
Finland (1st), Sweden (3rd), Denmark (4th), and Norway (5th).

The Index identified nine key factors that drive economic growth and
personal wellbeing, which are foundations of prosperity. Each of these nine
factors is represented in a sub-index and a country's final Prosperity Index
ranking is generated by averaging its scores across all nine sub-indexes,
equally weighted. More information on the Prosperity Index, including full
country rankings, background on data and methodology, and profiles of each
country can be found at http://www.prosperity.com.
Notes to Editors:
About the Legatum Prosperity Index
The 2009 Legatum Prosperity Index is based on statistical analysis of
more than 40 years of data for more than 100 countries worldwide, produced
and supervised by the Legatum Institute, with input from the research
consultancy Oxford Analytica and a panel of respected academic advisors in
the fields of economics, history, development, sociology, and political
science. 2009 Legatum Prosperity Index Rankings

TOP TWENTY COUNTRIES BOTTOM TEN COUNTRIES
1. Finland 95. Kenya
2. Switzerland 96. Algeria
3. Sweden 97. Tanzania
4. Denmark 98. Nigeria
5. Norway 99. Pakistan
6. Australia 100. Cameroon
7. Canada 101. Central African Republic
8. Netherlands 102. Yemen
9. United States 103. Sudan
10. New Zealand 104. Zimbabwe
11. Ireland
12. United Kingdom
13. Belgium
14. Germany
15. Austria
16. Japan
17. France
18. Hong Kong
19. Spain
20. Slovenia

How the index is constructed
The Prosperity Index accounts for 90 percent of the world's population,
using a combination of objective data and subjective responses to surveys.
This data comprises 79 different variables, and each is then distilled into
one of the nine different sub-indexes identified as a foundation of
prosperity. A country's performance in each sub-index is given a score, and
the overall Prosperity Index rankings are produced by averaging the
equally-weighted scores of the 9 sub-indexes for each country. Those
countries that perform well across each sub-index score highest in the
overall rankings. The foundations of prosperity that define successful
nations include:

- Economic Fundamentals - a growing, sound economy that
provides opportunities for wealth creation
- Entrepreneurship and Innovation - an environment friendly to new
enterprises and the commercialisation of new ideas
- Education - an accessible, high-quality educational system that
fosters human development
- Democratic Institutions - transparent and accountable governing
institutions that promote economic growth
- Governance - an honest and effective government that preserves
order and encourages productive citizenship
- Health - the physical well-being of the populace
- Personal Freedom - the degree to which individuals can choose the
course of their lives
- Security - a safe environment in which people can pursue
opportunity
- Social Capital - trustworthiness in relationships and strong
communities

About the Legatum Institute
The Legatum Institute is an independent policy, advocacy and advisory
organisation. The Institute's mission is to research and promote the
principles that drive the creation of global prosperity and the expansion of
human liberty and wellbeing.
For more information about the Legatum Institute, please visit
http://www.li.com.
The Institute is part of the Legatum Group, a private global investment
organization focused on investing in the international capital markets and
the promotion of sustainable development.
For more information about the Legatum Group, please visit
http://www.Legatum.com.
Media Enquiries

London
William Inboden, Legatum Institute
Telephone: +44-20-7148-5400
william.inboden@legatum.com

Nick Wood, Media Intelligence Partners
Telephone +44-20-3008-8146
Email: nickwood@nickwood.demon.co.uk

Dubai, UAE
Hamish Banks, Legatum
Telephone: +971-4-317-5800
Email: hamish.banks@legatum.com

Nicole Anwer, Legatum
Telephone: +971-4 317-5800
Email: nicole.anwer@legatum.com

New York
Michael Iacovella, Edelman
Telephone +1-212-704-8254
Email: michael.iacovella.@edelman.com

Mumbai
Arwa Husain, Adfactors PR
Telephone +91-22-2281-3565
Email: arwa.husain@adfactorspr.com

SOURCE Legatum

Media Enquiries: London, William Inboden, Legatum Institute, Telephone:
+44-20-7148-5400, william.inboden@legatum.com. Nick Wood, Media Intelligence
Partners, Telephone +44-20-3008-8146, Email: nickwood@nickwood.demon.co.uk.
Dubai, UAE, Hamish Banks, Legatum, Telephone: +971-4-317-5800, Email:
hamish.banks@legatum.com. Nicole Anwer, Legatum, Telephone: +971-4 317-5800,
Email: nicole.anwer@legatum.com. New York, Michael Iacovella, Edelman,
Telephone +1-212-704-8254, Email: michael.iacovella.@edelman.com. Mumbai, Arwa
Husain, Adfactors PR, Telephone +91-22-2281-3565, Email:
arwa.husain@adfactorspr.com