Nordic Exceptionalism

For many years America was so far ahead of the rest of the world, it was not worth looking anywhere else for insight. But now the rest are catching up and there are many examples that are routinely ignored as it is un-American to look abroad for ideas. In particular the Nordic countries seem to have formulated something special. New Zealand, Canada and Australia have also been impressive. Rankings and indicators are not perfect, but are a helpful tool in assessing progress.

Freedom and Transparency

Transparency International studies levels of corruption around the world and ranks countries using the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). Each country is scored based on expert analysis and surveys aggregated from independent institutions. Finland, Denmark and New Zealand tied for the top spot in 2012 as the least corrupt. Sweden was next and Norway was not far behind. The US ranked 19th.

There are a couple of institutions that seek to quantify freedom. Reporters Without Borders focuses specifically on press freedom for journalists and netizens. They compile the Press Freedom Index based on a survey of major institutions and journalists. In 2013, the US was ranked 32nd, surprisingly behind countries like Jamaica, Ghana and Suriname. The Nordics were all in the top 10, with Finland placing 1st and Norway 3rd.
Economics

The World Economic Forum, best known for its well-attended annual summit in Davos, produces an annual report on global competitiveness, ranking countries using its Global Competitiveness Index (GCI). It is often assumed that Europe's social democracies suffer the consequences in their economic activity. But 6 of the top 10 are European in the 2012-2013 rankings. The US lands in 7th place. All the Nordics are in the top 15 and Finland and Sweden are 3rd and 4th. The Economist recently reviewed the most impressive globally competitive Nordic companies.

Denmark and Sweden had the lowest Gini coefficients, a standard measure of income inequality, as compiled in the 2010 OECD Factbook. Norway brings shame to the Nordic block with its 11th place ranking. The US ranked 27th. It has been observed that globally the gaps between nations are shrinking while the gaps within them are rising. But the rise in inequality in the US has been on a strong upward trend from 0.39 to 0.47 since 1970.

Income inequality does not tell the full story. More important is equal access to opportunity. Various studies have looked at income correlations from generation to generation or from early to later life. This is broadly termed "upward mobility" and The Economist recently summarized the research in this area. Again, we may be surprised to learn that "Parental income is a better predictor of a child's future in America than in much of Europe, implying that social mobility is less powerful."

Human Development

The latest life expectancy compilation from the UN for the period 2005-2010 ranks the US 40th with a life expectancy of 78, which is well below the OECD average. Although they are all ahead of the US, the four Nordics perform relatively poorly in this category, ranging from 8th for Sweden to 38th for Denmark. Some rare room for improvement here. Japan tops the list at 82.7.

Education is not straightforward to evaluate. In 2012 the Economist Intelligence Unit published a major study of 50 countries' education systems, scoring them by educational attainment and cognitive skills. They considered factors such as government spending on education, literacy, highschool and college graduation rates, unemployment, GDP and prison rates. Finland and South Korea top the rankings in spite of their very different approaches to education. The US was 17th, beating out Sweden and Norway, while Denmark placed 12th.

There is also the well known Human Development Index (HDI) formulated by economists Amartya Sen and Mahbub ul Haq. It is a composite measure of education, health and income. Here the US shines with a ranking of 4th in 2012. But Norway was not to be outdone, topping the chart. Sweden was 10th, Denmark 16th and Finland 22nd. When the HDI is adjusted for inequality (IHDI), the US drops to 23rd and the Nordics are all within the top 11.

Summary

Overall, we have covered 7 metrics. There are others of interest too, including happiness and crime and punishment. Sweden and the Netherlands were both in the top ten for 6 of the 7 metrics covered here. Finland and Switzerland each had 5 top ten rankings. New Zealand had 4 and Canada, Denmark, Norway and Australia had 3. The US reached the top ten just twice.