In 2012, Will McAvoy, the fictional news anchor in the new US television drama, The Newsroom, responds to a college student's question "Why America is the greatest country in the World?" in the opening episode of the show.

"Just in case you wander into a voting booth one day, there are some things you should know."

"One of 'em is there's absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we're the greatest country in the world. We're seventh in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, third in median household income, number four in labour force and number four in exports."

He continues: "We lead the world in only three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real and defence spending, where we spend more than the next 26 countries combined, 25 of whom are allies."

Will McAvoy Meltdown / Rant on The Newsroom - YouTube

Why Shouldn't I Work for the NSA? (Good Will Hunting) - YouTube


Education:
The U.S. still has 8 of the top 10 universities in the world.

However, our scores in math and science for 13 and 14 year-old students has been in the middle compared to other countries since the mid 60's.
See International Testing in Math & Science.

Links:
U.S. Image abroad
Country Statistics (Standard of Living, life expectancy, taxes)
Global trade trends
Net Exports of Goods and Services
Geopolitics and the New Leaders of the Free World at MagellanConsulting.com

last updated 24 Aug 2012