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United States Review Rankings to Western Countries

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United States Review Rankings to Western Countries

Introduction

The United States, a sizeable centralized republic situated in North America, got into the

21st Century as the only global superpower after the 1991 downfall of the Soviet Union. It is third

among the populous countries globally, with a population of approximately 330 million people.

This research paper will focus on the United States based on its performance review rankings

based on the healthcare and economic indicators of the country and how it is ranked. The

reviews will be based on the comparison of western countries such as Europe, Australia, and

New Zealand to the United States. Additionally, the paper will also explain the relative success

and failure of the rankings.

Description of the Problem/Issue

In explaining comparative success and failures of ranking, we can say that while ranking

has been proven important in building and maintaining ranks and reputation for countries and

institutions. Comparative failures may also result from unclear performance criteria, lengthy

form documentation, and filling process, contributing to biased information and reviews. In

addition, in some instances, the review process may be conflicting. Therefore, this paper will

analyze the US while supporting the studies with data analysis showing how the country has

been ranked.

The United States has been a supreme nation for the longest time; however, based on

studies, some sectors of the country are not performing as well as they used to, and some other

Western states, as shown by studies, are raising the ranks, as we shall see in this paper. Factors

such as income inequality, political issues, and healthcare systems slowing down US growth. On

the bright side, the US has maintained its top ranks in the economic sector, although other
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countries are also rising to fill the top position. Below is a summary of US performance based on

the two indicators of healthcare and economy supported by performance analysis.

Healthcare

Despite the healthcare system in the US being the most expensive, it is still being

reviewed as the most underperforming state in the healthcare sector. The US is being ranked last

compared to Western countries such as the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, the UK,

Switzerland, and Norway. According to Woolf & Schoomaker (2019), the US records the lowest

life expectancy rates at 60, with the nation also recording the highest level of infant mortality.

While also experiencing some of the highest suicide rates among developed countries.

Diagram 1 below illustrates the overall ranking of the health care system among

countries, with the US ranking number 11 (Schneider, E. C. et al., 2021).

Diagram 1: Performance of health care systems (Scheneider, 2021)

The inadequacy of worldwide healthcare coverage is the most apparent factor in which

the US differs from other industrialized countries. Most countries offer health care services

worldwide and have robust links amongst physicians and patients. The physician's service

practices at medical homes guarantee access to care. Although the data in the above

illustration(diagram 1), the analysis is based on the period when the law's full implementation

was not yet made in the country, the Affordable Care Act is amassing the sum of Americans

with health covers and enhancing availability to healthcare. As a result, it is not surprising that
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the United States lags behind other countries based on the element of equity and access between

people with higher and lower incomes.

With various indicators of efficiency, health results, and quality, the US holds up behind

many countries. The US physicians experience many specific issues while gathering up-to-date

data, handling administrative challenges, and coordinating care. Other nations have led the way

in implementing current systems for health information. Still, the US's general practitioners and

healthcare facilities are adopting due to substantial economic incentives to adopt and implement

health information technology structures effectively. Additionally, Affordable Care Act

provisions will enhance healthcare organization efficiency and distribution and investments in

critical preventive and population-health agendas.

Economy

An economy is composed of linked productions, consumption, and trade activities

assisting in determining how limited incomes can be partitioned in a country. Therefore, when

reviewing the United States economically, the US is still richer than other developed large

countries (Maddison, 2014). It possesses a highly developed free-market economy in which

decisions regarding production, distribution, and investment are solely steered by price indicators

generated by demand and supply factors. When considering the GDP and net wealth as

measured by its total assets minus liabilities, it is the biggest global economy. Despite the

numerous challenges that the US faces, it has still managed to be ranked first economically.

However, countries like Australia are doing better with an exceedingly mixed developed

economy (Maddison, 2014).

Different reasons account for why the US is doing better economic wise. The US is based

on an economic framework that encourages self-employment. The United States has an advanced
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equity financing system compared to Europe, with angel investors prepared to fund companies

and a dynamic scheme for the capital market to expand such businesses. It also promotes a

culture of entrepreneurship. Residents/ people in the US express a need to create and develop

enterprises and a risk-taking nature essential for business (Maddison, 2014). The country's

culture encourages the idea of trying no matter how much you fail; hence, even students have

demonstrated their entrepreneurial desires, therefore the growth of entrepreneurship.

Further, a rising population due to immigration characterizes the US. The aging of

America's general public means there is a need for a younger labor force that is additionally

trainable and adaptable. Even though restrictions on immigration to the US exist, unique

documentation also allows individuals with exceptional skill and industry sponsorship to enter

the American economy and citizenship pathway through a green card. The United States'

capacity to recruit immigrants is crucial in its growth (Maddison, 2014).

Other factors include the presence within the US of large trade unions, state-owned firms,

and highly rigid labor regulations that do not obstruct labor markets in general. Only about 6.7%

of private-sector workers in the United States are unionized, and there are essentially no state-

owned businesses (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2021). Although employment and working

situations are regulated in the United States, the regulations are far less tedious than Europe.

Therefore, workforces possess a higher chance of finding the perfect employment, businesses

have an easier time innovating, and new companies have an easier time getting off the ground.

Lastly, a beneficial regulatory environment exists in the country. Even though US laws are far

from ideal, they are less demanding for firms than those imposed by the European Union and

European countries (Maddison, 2014).

Evidence/data analysis and statistics

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Healthcare Evidence/data/statistics

There is room for improvement in all countries, based on the reviews. Despite that, the

other ten countries' expenditures are significantly lower on health care per person and a fraction

of GDP than the United States (Papanicolas et., 2018). These outcomes indicate that the US

healthcare structures can perform much better in value provided for the nation's investment in

substantial healthcare. The health outcomes from the illustration in the data below show the low

life expectancy rate in the US.

Diagram 2: Healthcare spending across different countries (Schneider, E. C. et al., 2021)

Despite US higher spending as illustrated above, Americans have poor healthcare as

compared to their international equivalents. In 2017, the US had a life expectancy of 78.5years,

more significantly than two years shorter than the OECD average and five years lower than
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Switzerland, which has more longevity (Randall et al., 2021). In the United States, ethnic and

racial disparities in life expectancy are not revealed.

Economic Evidence/data/statistics

Diagram 3 below displays various countries' rankings regarding the nominal GDP

(World Bank, 2020). From Diagram 3, it is clear that the United States has ranked first based on

various factors such as GDP established through the PPP (Purchasing Power Parity), annual

growth, and GDP Per Capita.

Diagram 3: Percentage shares of the global economy (World Bank,2020)

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In regards to the nominal GDP, the US has the world's biggest economy. The financial

service sector, which comprises healthcare, finance, insurance, real estate, business, and

proficient services, is the most significant contributor to GDP (Hudson, 2021).

The United States possesses a highly uncluttered economy that permits flexible corporate

investments and foreign and direct investment. It is a universally main geopolitical force, and as

the producer of the world's primary reserve currency, it can maintain a massive external

nationwide debt. In numerous trades, the US economic sector is on the verge of technological

innovations. Still, it faces increasing threats from economic inequality, rising social safety net

expenditures, healthcare, and a crumbling framework.

Diagram 4 below is a presentation of the number of businesses in the US.

Diagram 4: The graph indicates how much the US has invested in the country's entrepreneurial

activities. The businesses are part of the nominal GDP sector composition (Clevenger, 2021).
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Implications

According to our findings, the United States has the highest rate of unnecessary mortality

due to people not receiving timely, high-quality care (Kruk et al., 2018). This study's findings

indicate necessary policy implications as well as chances to learn from other countries.

Additionally, lack of correspondence in service access highlights the need to advance insurance

to cover the persons not insured and guarantee that all Americans have a medical home. Low and

moderate-income earning family units are now qualified to acquire financial assistance in

obtaining medical cover under the Affordable Care Act. After the introduction of the American

Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the United States has dramatically accelerated the adoption of

health information technology (Schulte, 2018). It is starting to bridge the gap with other nations

that have steered the implementation of information technology in healthcare. Providers in the

United States are increasingly being enticed to apply incorporated medical accounts and

information schemes to ease availability to patients and practitioners.

Conclusion

In conclusion, based on the extensive research done in the paper, it is evident that some

Western countries are doing so much better in the sector of healthcare and economy compared to

the United States. Therefore, even though the United States has been able to hold on to the

number on rank economic wise, it is clear those countries like China and India are also rising.
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References

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https://scholarworks.uark.edu/acctuht/49/

Hudson, M. (2021). Rent-seeking and asset-price inflation: a total-returns profile of economic

polarization in America. Review of Keynesian Economics, 9(4), 435-460.

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Kruk, M. E., Gage, A. D., Arsenault, C., Jordan, K., Leslie, H. H., Roder-DeWan, S., ... & Pate,

M. (2018). High-quality health systems in the Sustainable Development Goals era: time

for a revolution. The Lancet Global Health, 6(11), e1196-e1252. https://bit.ly/30qnp6C

Maddison, A. (2014). Economic growth in the West: Comparative experience in Europe and

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