Why Is the U.S. Rich?
Look for indicators of high K/L, H/L, N/L.
Compare U.S. and Philippines:
|
U.S. |
Philippines |
||
|
Real GDP/Pop |
$28,600 |
$2,600 |
|
|
Population |
268 mil. |
76.1 mil. |
|
|
K/L: |
Electricity Consumption/Pop (kWh) |
11,636 |
326 |
|
Rail (km/mil. pop) |
896 |
7 |
|
|
Roads (km/thou. pop) |
23.4 |
2.4 |
|
|
Phones/Pop |
.68 |
.02 |
|
|
TVs/Pop |
.80 |
.10 |
|
|
H/L: |
Literacy (age>14, can read & write) |
97% |
94.6% |
|
N/L: |
Land (sqkm/thou. pop) |
34.2 |
3.9 |
|
Arable land (sqkm/thou. pop) |
6.5 |
0.7 |
|
|
Quality of life: |
|||
|
Life expectancy at birth |
76.0 |
66.1 |
|
|
Infant mort. (deaths/1000 live births) |
6.55 |
35.2 |
|
|
males/females > age 65 |
0.7 |
0.81 |
|
Source: CIA World Factbook (as of Jan. 1999). Most data for 1996.