OUR PLACE IN THE WORLD.

Via Mark Goldberg, the United Nations Development Program has released its annual Human Development Index rankings, and Iceland, Norway and Australia took the top three spots. The report ranks countries based on criteria like per capita GDP, life expectancy, per capita GDP, and the education level of its citizenry. The United States came in down in the 12 spot, under oft-hailed Sweden but two spots above similarly hailed Denmark.

Another interesting ranking out recently: the Humanitarian Response Index, put out by Dara International this week. This one ranked 22 developed nations on their response to humanitarian needs, integration of relief with development, willingness to work with NGOs, and cooperation with international law. The Nordic countries did well here too, with Sweden, Norway, and Denmark taking the top three spots, respectively. The United States is down at 16th, because though we give more in absolute terms, we're pretty stingy in relative terms. Foreign Policy provides some analysis:

The funny thing is, most Americans seem to think their country is opening the spigots when it comes to foreign aid. According to statistics compiled by Columbia University professor and FP contributor Jeffrey Sachs, the typical American believes that 25 percent of the gross national income (GNI) is spent on foreign aid. In actuality, the OECD reports that the U.S. provided just 0.22 percent of its GNI in direct foreign aid in 2005, or $27.6 billion.

If we were to give as much as our Nordic friends, which according to Sachs would provide the funds necessary to eliminate poverty in the world, we'd have to spend $93.8 billion each year in foreign aid. As FP points out, even if we added in the $33.6 billion Americans contribute through private organizations each year, we'd still be $32.6 billion short.

So not only are we pretty far down the rankings in development, we're also not doing much to help others on that front, either. We are, however, still leading the world in carbon emissions.

--Kate Sheppard