Newsweek Says My Country is Better Than Yours

Newsweek, which was recently sold off by the Washington Post Company for $1, decided to rank the world's "best" countries. It's a gimmick, but a good one, because who can resist either the euphoria or righteous indignation that from comes seeing something they either adamantly agree or disagree with.

So here's how Latin America stacked up:

"Best"

#30: Chile: 2nd best among "Middle Income" countries.

#35: Costa Rica

#40: Panama

#42: Peru

#44: Uruguay

#45: Mexico: Solidly middle-of-the-road in all categories, including 54th for "Quality of Life." Will be interesting to see if that changes with security situation in future rankings.

#46: Argentina

#48: Brazil: Lula was given mention as of the 10 most respected world leaders and the country is noted for having the most plastic surgeons per capita.

#50: Cuba: 5th worst for "Political Environment" but #20 in "Education" and #29 in "Heath;" best "Quality of Life" for all "Middle Income" countries.

#55: Dominican Republic

#62: Colombia

#68: Paraguay: Solid on "Education" and "Heath" indices but 3rd worst on "Economic Dynamism."

#70: Ecuador

#71: Venezuela: Dead last in "Economic Dynamism." Ouch.

#72: El Salvador

#75: Nicaragua

#76: Honduras: 10th from last in "Economic Dynamism."

#77: Bolivia

#84: Guatemala

One thing that seriously dragged down several countries was the "Economic Dynamism" ranking. I'm amazed to see that Latin American countries hold the bottom three spots (of the 100-country index), with Venezuela, Ecuador, and Paraguay at 100, 98, and 99. Bolivia comes in at 94, Honduras at 90, Nicaragua at 85 and even Uruguay at 84. What happened to being la Suiza del Sur?

Interestingly, Communist Cuba beats on those countries on "Economic Dynamism," coming in at #72.

By comparison, the US was 11th overall - 2nd in "Economic Dynamism" but 26th in "Education" and "Health."

Image Source: Newsweek

Online Sources: TheStreet.com, Newsweek