Make America Great Again? Not by This Administration

Source: World Bank, OECD and Global Fire Power.Opinion by Joseph Chamie (portland, usa)Wednesday, April 02, 2025Inter Press Service

PORTLAND, USA, Apr 02 (IPS) - For most voters, to make America great again, as the 47th president has repeatedly pledged, meant to make the United States markedly superior globally. However, the administration’s actions, policies and program cuts will not improve but only worsen the US’s mediocre standing among advanced countries.

Nevertheless, in order to assess the administration’s prospects to make America great again, it is appropriate and necessary to establish the current standing or rank of the US across various important dimensions.

Regarding economic strength and military power, the United States has the highest rankings worldwide. The US gross national product (GNP), for example, is in first place and well ahead of other countries (Figure 1).

Source: World Bank, OECD and Global Fire Power.

In per capita income, however, the United States falls to around 5th place behind countries such as Luxembourg, Norway, Switzerland and Ireland. Furthermore, America’s debt-to-GDP ratio is the fourth largest among OECD economies, behind Japan, Greece and Italy, and is at its highest level since World War II.

With respect to military power, the United States is in first place. The US maintains its lead in warfare with its sizable armed forces combined with substantial advanced military technologies.

One valued and recognized dimension of societal development and human wellbeing is life expectancy at birth. The US life expectancy at birth of about 78 years is lower than the OECD average of about 80 years. In fact, the US life expectancy at birth ranks about 32nd and well behind Canada, Italy, Japan and Switzerland.

In terms of its ranking, the US life expectancy at birth of about 78 years is lower than the OECD average of about 80 years. In fact, the US life expectancy at birth ranks about 32nd and well behind Canada, Italy, Japan and Switzerland. Despite the fact that the US life expectancy lags behind other wealthy nations, the country’s president issued an executive order rolling back policies to limit drug spending by Medicaid and Medicare.

A related indicator of development is the infant mortality rate. Similar to life expectancy at birth, the infant mortality rate of the United States ranks poorly in comparison to other high-income countries. The US rate is approximately three times the rates of Japan, Norway and Sweden (Figure 2).

Source: United Nations and OECD.

Again despite its relatively low ranking, the administration made far-reaching financial cuts in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those and related actions by the administration have contributed to grinding the National Institutes of Health to a halt, set back its scientific reporting and sent shockwaves through academia and the biomedical research institutions.

Another frequent measure of a country’s standing in the world is the level of poverty among its population. Among OECD countries, the United States has the second highest poverty level at 18% and well below Canada (11%), France (9%), Germany (12%), Italy (13 %), Switzerland (10%) and the United Kingdom (12%).

An important dimension reflecting security and public safety is the level of homicides. Again among the OECD countries, the United States has the fourth highest intentional homicide rate and is double the OECD average. Moreover, the US homicide rate is more than ten times the rates of Ireland, Italy, Japan, Norway and Switzerland.

A second measure related to crime is a country’s incarceration rate. Among the OECD countries, the United States has the highest incarceration rate, which is approximately five times the OECD average rate.

One indicator reflecting the health of members of a population is the proportion of its adult population who are obese. Again, the United States is well ahead other developed countries in its level of obesity (Figure 3).

Source: OECD, PEW Research Center, Economic and Social Rights Fulfillment Index and World Happiness Report.

The rate of obesity among US adults is approximately 42% or nearly double the OECD average proportion. In striking contrast, the levels of other countries are much lower, such as in France (10%), Germany (23%), Italy (18%), Japan (8%), Russia (24%), Switzerland (15%) and the United Kingdom (17%). Moreover, with the administration laying off 10,000 employees at the Health and Human Services Department, America’s health conditions are not likely to improve but worsen.

A widely recognized measure of societal development and valued by a country’s citizens is the level of education provided to the general public. Among the top countries having a well-developed public education system are Japan, Denmark, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Finland, Germany and Canada, with the US ranked at approximately the 12th position.

Similarly with respect to student performance at the primary and secondary levels, America is not among the top ten countries. The administration’s decision to eliminate the Department of Education will likely worsen the US standing on public education.

In terms of family structure, the United States leads the world in single-parent household rates, with the large majority of those households missing a father.

In 2023, nearly one in four children in the US aged 0?17 years, totaling about 19 million, were living in a household without their biological, step, or adoptive father, mostly with their mother (85% of cases). The US proportion of children in single-parent households is markedly higher than the levels of Japan (7%), Mexico (7%), Germany (12%), Canada (15%) and France (16%).

Human rights is a vital aspect of societal well-being and development. The United States typically ranks lower than other high-income OECD countries on human rights indicators.

Among 24 high-income OECD countries, the United States ranks at the bottom at 24th with respect to economic and social rights. And the situation has worsened recently as the president signed a sweeping executive order denouncing federal worker unions as hostile and rescinding collective bargaining agreements of federal union workers.

Closely related to human rights is the status of women. Here again, the United States is not among the top ten countries. Far ahead of the US with respect to the status of women are countries such as Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Among 29 OECD countries, the US ranks 19th.

Moreover, two indicators of the status of women that have worsened in the US are maternal mortality and political violence against women. The US has the highest level of maternal mortality among OECD countries. Also, women in the US who take on political leadership are frequent targets of violence and harassment.

Finally with respect to reported happiness among its citizens, the United States is not among the top countries. Whereas the top four countries in 2025 are Finland, Denmark, Iceland and Sweden, the US ranks 24th among countries in terms of life satisfaction.

The relatively low ranking of the United States on reported happiness is believed to be due to the cost of living, economic uncertainty and the political polarization. The administration’s recent decisions and rhetoric have only increased economic uncertainty and political polarization across the United States.

Also, many are concerned about proposals to alter the country’s social safety. As the administration and Republican Congressional leaders push to pass a tax cut extension, they are considering reforms and cost reductions to the country’s major entitlement programs that are consuming about half of all federal spending, in particular Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.

In sum, while it leads the world in military power and GNP, the United States is well behind many other advanced countries with respect to life expectancy, infant mortality, health, poverty, homicide and crime, family structure, education, human rights, status of women, maternal mortality and reported happiness.

The administration’s actions, policies, program cuts and employee firings will not improve but likely only worsen America’s mediocre standing on virtually every major measure of societal wellbeing and development. Finally, about that unremitting pledge by the US president to make America great again, it’s well on its way to the graveyard of vain political slogans.

Joseph Chamie is a consulting demographer, a former director of the United Nations Population Division and author of numerous publications on population issues, including his recent book, "Population Levels, Trends, and Differentials".

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