The Legatum Institute has released their 2012 Prosperity Index which is a unique and robust assessment of global wealth and well being, which benchmarks 142 countries around the world in eight distinct categories: Economy; Education; Entrepreneurship and Opportunity; Governance; Health; Personal Freedom; Safety and Security; and Social Capital.
For the first time, the United states has dropped out of the top ten and is ranked at 12.
Over the past four years, prosperity has increased around the globe, while it has remained stagnant in the United States, the Legatum Institute reports.
To explain, the Legatum Institute has prepared a nearly two minute video introduction, shown below:
Key findings can be found here and the chart below is listed as the #3 key finding:
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3. The US ranks outside of the top ten for the first time (down to 12th), pulled down primarily by a decline in the Entrepreneurship and Opportunity sub-index. This fall is driven by a decline in the number of US citizens who believe that hard work will get them ahead and a decrease in ICT exports.
It should be no surprise that when Washington leaders consistently threaten and punish success by our entrepreneurs, who employ the majority of US workers, that there will be a marked decrease in those that do not believe hard work will get them ahead.
[Update] A quick PS here- It isn't just Barack Obama and Democrats that are responsible, the GOP has also proposed punishment for success with a "millionaires" tax hike. The only difference is the GOP has admitted publicly is would harm businesses and proposed it anyway.
Via Legatum Institute: