More Evidence Great Depression II Is Here: 30mm Unemployed in U.S. (19% of workforce)

The mistake is saying that a 3rd world country is the poorest type of country. It isn't. 5th world countries like Chad and Niger and Ethiopia are not to be classifies as 3rd World. Places like the US should be considered 1st world like Switzerland or Germany or Singapore but they are not because of the enormously wide and pervasive discrepancies between the upper and lower class. America has more poverty than most choose to believe.

 

If the two of you cannot remain civil in your disagreements, I'm going to delete your posts. No reason that yet another discussion has to be thrown off track by a feud.

 

Please show me some study on any reputable site or periodical that states the United States of America is not considered the "first world".

 

Political Instability Index: Vulnerability to social and political unrest



We define social and political unrest or upheaval as those events or developments that pose a serious extra-parliamentary or extra-institutional threat to governments or the existing political order.

The events will almost invariably be accompanied by some violence as well as public disorder. These need not necessarily succeed in toppling a government or regime. Even unsuccessful episodes result in turmoil and serious disruption.

The overall index on a scale of 0 (no vulnerability) to 10 (highest vulnerability) has two component indexes—an index of underlying vulnerability and an economic distress index. The overall index is a simple average (on a 1-10 scale) of the two component indexes. There are 15 indicators in all—12 for the
underlying and 3 for the economic distress index.

Underlying vulnerability indicators are: inequality; state history; corruption;ethnic fragmentation; trust in institutions; status of minorities; history of political instability; proclivity to labour unrest; level of social provision; a country’s neighbourhood; regime type (full democracy, “flawed” democracy, hybrid or authoritarian); and the interaction of regime type with political
factionalism.

Economic distress indicators are: growth in incomes; unemployment; and level of income per head.

A full explanation of the methodology, with sources and references, can be found at http://www.eiu.com/special

1 Zimbabwe 8.8
2 Chad 8.5
3 Congo Kinshasa 8.2
4 Cambodia 8
4 Sudan 8
6 Iraq 7.9
7 Cote dIvoire 7.8
7 Haiti 7.8
7 Pakistan 7.8
7 Zambia 7.8
7 Afghanistan 7.8
7Central African Republic 7.8
13 North Korea 7.7
14 Bolivia 7.7
14 Ecuador 7.7
16 Angola 7.6
16 Dominican Republic 7.6
16 Ukraine 7.6
19 Bangladesh 7.5
19 Guinea 7.5
19 Kenya 7.5
19 Moldova 7.5
19 Senegal 7.5
19 Guinea Bissau 7.5
19 Nepal 7.5
19 Niger 7.5
27 Bosnia and Hercegovina 7.5
28 Liberia 7.4
29 Venezuela 7.3
29 Timor Leste 7.3
31 Sri Lanka 7.3
3.6 32 Sierra Leone 7.2
33 Argentina 7.1
33 Kyrgyz Republic 7.1
33 Myanmar 7.1
33 Panama 7.1
33 Tajikistan 7.1
38 Colombia 7
38 Lebanon 7
38 Peru 7
38 South Africa 7
38 Thailand 7
43 Lesotho 7
43 Nigeria 7
43 Mali 7
46 Burkina Faso 6.9
46 Burundi 6.9
46 Cameroon 6.9
46 Papua New Guinea 6.9
46 Mauritania 6.9
51 Honduras 6.8
51 Indonesia 6.8
53 Philippines 6.8
54 Turkey 6.8
55 Eritrea 6.7
55 Estonia 6.7
55 Gambia 6.7
55 Latvia 6.7
59 Guyana 6.7
60 Algeria 6.6
60 Guatemala 6.6
60 Macedonia 6.6
63 Malaysia 6.5
63 Uganda 6.5
65 Russia 6.5
66 Paraguay 6.4
66 Romania 6.4
66 Serbia 6.4
66 Montenegro 6.4
70 Greece 6.3
70 Uzbekistan 6.3
72 Congo (Brazzaville) 6.3
72 Georgia 6.3
74 Albania 6.2
74 Belize 6.2
74 Iran 6.2
74 Turkmenistan 6.2
78 Croatia 6.1
78 Equatorial Guinea 6.1
78 Mexico 6.1
78 Yemen 6.1
82 Hungary 6.1
82 Lithuania 6.1
82 Saudi Arabia 6.1
82 Mongolia 6.1
86 Bulgaria 6
86 Jamaica 6
88 Benin 5.9
88 Ghana 5.9
88 Nicaragua 5.9
88 Tanzania 5.9
92 Namibia 5.8
93 Armenia 5.8
93 Syria 5.8
95 Malawi 5.7
95 Mozambique
97 Morocco 5.6
98 Bahrain 5.5
98 Cape Verde 5.5
98 Israel 5.5
98 Kuwait 5.5
98 Slovakia 5.5
103 Spain 5.5
104 Brazil 5.4
105 Egypt 5.4
105 Jordan 5.4
107 Togo 5.3
107 Bhutan 5.3
109 France 5.3
109 Iceland 5.3
109 USA 5.3
112 Azerbaijan 5.2
112 El Salvador 5.2
114 Uruguay 5.2
115 Gabon 5.1
116 Chile 5.1
116 Ethiopia 5.1
116 Laos 5.1
116 South Korea 5.1
120 Italy 5
121 Rwanda 4.9
122 Madagascar 4.9
123 Portugal 4.8
124 Belarus 4.8
124 China 4.8
124 Kazakhstan 4.8
127 Botswana 4.7
127 Swaziland 4.7
127 Trinidad and Tobago 4.7
130 Malta 4.7
130 Singapore 4.7
132 Ireland 4.6
132 UK 4.6
134 Tunisia 4.6
135 India 4.5
136 Poland 4.5
137 Libya 4.3
137 Sao Tome & Principe 4.3
139 Taiwan 4.3
139 Vietnam 4.3
141 Cuba 4.2
142 Cyprus 4.1
142 Qatar 4.1
142 Seychelles 4.1
142 UAE 4.1
146 Belgium 4
146 Hong Kong 4
146 Netherlands 4
149 Oman 3.9
150 Germany 3.8
150 Japan 3.8
150 Slovenia 3.8
153 Czech Rep 3.7
154 Australia 3.6
154 Austria 3.6
154 Luxembourg 3.6
154 New Zealand 3.6
158 Costa Rica 3.5
158 Mauritius 3.5
160 Switzerland 3.4
161 Finland 3.2
161 Sweden 3.2
163 Canada 2.8
164 Denmark 2.2
165 Norway 1.2

 

Is this in response to my comment? Because this has nothing to do with whether a country is considered a "third world country" or not.

The US beats out France. Do I make the leap that France is a third world country? Laf.

Costa Rica is listed as the 8th best. Having been there many times (we had a plant there) I can tell you that it is most certainly a third world country.

 

It's not a feud, he is just a sad frustrated individual with a double digit IQ.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_world

Feel free to make up whatever definitions suit you.

 

In none of the "common alternatives" is the US considered "third world".

Thank you for posting a clear document on the subject, GTS.

My personal preference is to use "developing world" for third world countries.

 

I agree their conclusions are a bit strange to say the least but they had the most comprehensive criteria to form their 'ranking' on that I have come across.

This is another one on infrastructure I can remember:



A panel of 24 of the nation's leading civil engineers, analyzed hundreds of studies, reports and other sources, and surveyed more than 2,000 engineers to determine what was happening in the field.

Aviation: D+

Bridges: C the percentage of the nation's 590,750 bridges rated structurally deficient or functionally obsolete = 27.1%.


Dams : D Since 1998, the number of unsafe dams has risen by 33% to more than 3,500.

Drinking Water: D America faces a shortfall of $11 billion annually to replace aging facilities and comply with safe drinking water regulations. Federal funding for drinking water in 2005 remained level at $850 million, less than 10% of the total national requirement.


Energy (National Power Grid) : D The U.S. power transmission system is in urgent need of modernization. Growth in electricity demand and investment in new power plants has not been matched by investment in new transmission facilities. Maintenance expenditures have decreased 1% per year since 1992. Existing transmission facilities were not designed for the current level of demand, resulting in an increased number of `bottlenecks' which increase costs to consumers and elevate the risk of blackouts.

Hazardous Waste : D Federal funding for `Superfund' cleanup of the nation's worst toxic waste sites has steadily declined since 1998, reaching its lowest level since 1986 in FY05.

Navigable Waterways : D Of the 257 locks on the more than 12,000 miles of inland waterways operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, nearly 50% are functionally obsolete.

Public Parks & Recreation : C Many of our nation's public parks, beaches and recreational harbors are falling into a state of disrepair. Much of the initial construction of roads, bridges, utility systems, shore protection structures and beaches was done more than 50 years ago.

Rail : C For the first time since World War II, limited rail capacity has created significant chokepoints and delays. This problem will increase as freight rail tonnage is expected to increase at least 50% by 2020.

Roads : D Poor road conditions cost U.S. motorists $54 billion a year in repairs and operating costs--$275 per motorist. While long-term Federal transportation programs remain unauthorized since expiring on Sept. 30, 2003, the nation continues to shortchange funding for needed transportation improvements.

Schools : D The Federal government has not assessed the condition of America's schools since 1999, when it estimated that $127 billion was needed to bring facilities to good condition. Other sources have since reported a need as high as $268 billion.

Transit : D Transit use increased faster than any other mode of transportation--up 21%--between 1993 and 2002. Federal investment during this period stemmed the decline in the condition of existing transit infrastructure. The reduction in federal investment in real dollars since 2001 threatens this turnaround.

Wastewater : D Aging wastewater management systems discharge billions of gallons of untreated sewage into U.S. surface waters each year. The EPA estimates that the nation must invest $390 billion over the next 20 years to replace existing systems and build new ones to meet increasing demands. Yet, in 2005, Congress cut funding for wastewater management for the first time in eight years. The Bush administration has proposed a further 33% reduction, to $730 million, for FY06.

America's Infrastructure G.P.A. = D

Total Investment Needs = $1.6 Trillion

http://www.asce.org/reportcard/2005/page.cfm?id=103

 

The rating of D is on what scale? A scale of what is determined as "safe" by these engineers, I would assume.

Did they bother rating the world's infrastructure to determine how America sizes up compared to other countries? If not, then your argument is interesting, but has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not you can call the US a "third world".

Hell, I have to laugh because at least we HAVE parks and recreational areas to be rated in the first place.