North America > United States > Economy

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Big Mac Index	$3.15		[8th of 65]
Business efficiency	100		[1st of 51]
DEFINITION: Based upon a business efficiency index where '100' represents the highest level of business efficiency.
SOURCE: The Economist.
Child poverty	22.4		[2nd of 23]
DEFINITION: Child poverty index is defined as the share of the children living in the households with income below 50% of the national median.
SOURCE: IMD International, 2005
Commitment to foreign aid	3%		[18th of 18]
DEFINITION: Relative commitment to aid and military expenditure. Official development assistance compared with military expenditure, 1995 %.
SOURCE: UNICEF
Economic aid > Donor	$23,530,000,000.00		[1st of 26]
DEFINITION: The net official development assistance (ODA) from Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations to developing countries and multilateral organizations. ODA is defined as financial assistance that is concessional in character, has the main objective to promote economic development and welfare of the less developed countries (LDCs), and contains a grant element of at least 25%. The entry does not cover other official flows (OOF) or private flows.
SOURCE: UNDP, Human Development Report 1998 (Oxford University Press, Oxford 1998)
Economic freedom	3.2		[7th of 156]
DEFINITION: Index of 'economic freedom', according to the American organisation 'The Heritage Foundation'. It is worth noting that such indices are based on highly culturally contingent factors. This data makes a number of assumptions about 'freedom' and the role of the government that are not accepted by much of the world's population. A broad discussion of The Heritage Foundation's definition and methodology can be found at http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/ChapterPDFs/chapter5.HTML.
SOURCE: All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008
Economic importance	197.9		[1st of 25]
DEFINITION: Globalpolicy.org
SOURCE: The Heritage Foundation
GDP > PPP	$11,628,083,000,000.00		[1st of 163]
DEFINITION: Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) in Millions of International Dollars, 2004.
SOURCE: Economic Importance, 1998 (GDP x PC Inc) figures in quadrillion people dollars
GDP per capita in 1820	$1,287.00		[5th of 23]
SOURCE: World Bank. 2005. World Development Indicators 2005.
GDP per capita in 1900	$4,096.00		[3rd of 39]
SOURCE: Angus Maddison
GDP per capita in 1950	$9,573.00		[1st of 52]
SOURCE: Angus Maddison
GDP per capita in 1973	$16,607.00		[2nd of 52]
SOURCE: Angus Maddison
GINI index	40.81		[16th of 40]
DEFINITION: Gini index measures the extent to which the distribution of income (or, in some cases, consumption expenditure) among individuals or households within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. A Lorenz curve plots the cumulative percentages of total income received against the cumulative number of recipients, starting with the poorest individual or household. The Gini index measures the area between the Lorenz curve and a hypothetical line of absolute equality, expressed as a percentage of the maximum area under the line. Thus a Gini index of 0 represents perfect equality, while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality.		View time series
SOURCE: Angus Maddison
Gross National Income	$9,780,000,000,000.00		[1st of 172]
DEFINITION: GNI, Atlas method (current US$). GNI (formerly GNP) is the sum of value added by all resident producers plus any product taxes (less subsidies) not included in the valuation of output plus net receipts of primary income (compensation of employees and prop).
SOURCE: World Development Indicators database
Human Development Index	0.944		[10th of 178]
DEFINITION: The human development index values in this table were calculated using a consistent methodology and consistent data series. They are not strictly comparable with those in earlier Human Development Reports.
Income category High income: OECD
DEFINITION: World Bank income categories are used
SOURCE: Human Development Report 2006, United Nations Development Programme
Income distribution > Poorest 10%	1.8%		[85th of 114]
DEFINITION: Share of income or consumption (%). The distribution of income is typically more unequal than the distribution of consumption.
SOURCE:
Income distribution > Richest 10%	30.5%		[54th of 114]
DEFINITION: Share of income or consumption (%). The distribution of income is typically more unequal than the distribution of consumption.
SOURCE: World Bank. 2002. World Development Indicators 2002. CD-ROM. Washington, DC
Population below median income	17		[3rd of 28]
DEFINITION: Population living below 50% of median income (%)
SOURCE: World Bank. 2002. World Development Indicators 2002. CD-ROM. Washington, DC
Technological achievement	0.73		[2nd of 68]
DEFINITION: Technology Achievement Index Units: Score
SOURCE: IMD International

Interesting facts on American Economy

• Americans are 15% more innovative than the Japanese. But in percentage terms, the Japanese grant 3.5 times more patents.
• United we stand? The United Kingdom and United States are both in the top ten for Gross Domestic Product - and for child poverty.

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