Search

This article introduces a special report rating the best countries in the world. Every place on the planet has something of unique beauty and significance to contribute to the "good life" on earth. Consider just about any social indicator--income per capita, health, democracy, economic competitiveness, environmental consciousness, honesty--and the Nordic world of Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland is sure to shine. On the combined Human Development Index, Norway and Sweden ranked first and second in 2004 out of 175 countries, with the United States coming in eighth, and the larger countries of continental Europe ranked in the teens. Broadly speaking, the Nordic region took three basic decisions. First, it prioritized education, study and science. Second, it decided that it would leave no countryman behind. Social insurance--pensions, public health care, public education--became a basic shared commitment in each of these countries. And third, the region built a vigorous private sector. The beauty of globalization is that every corner of the world can learn from the others. A little less ideology, and a little more openness to the ideas adopted by the Nordic states, would do us all a world of good.

This article introduces a special report rating the best countries in the world. Every place on the planet has something of unique beauty and significance to contribute to the "good life" on earth. Consider just about any social indicator--income per capita, health, democracy, economic competitiveness, environmental consciousness, honesty--and the Nordic world of Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland is sure to shine. On the combined Human Development Index, Norway and Sweden ranked first and second in 2004 out of 175 countries, with the United States coming in eighth, and the larger countries of continental Europe ranked in the teens. Broadly speaking, the Nordic region took three basic decisions. First, it prioritized education, study and science. Second, it decided that it would leave no countryman behind. Social insurance--pensions, public health care, public education--became a basic shared commitment in each of these countries. And third, the region built a vigorous private sector. The beauty of globalization is that every corner of the world can learn from the others. A little less ideology, and a little more openness to the ideas adopted by the Nordic states, would do us all a world of good.