THE DON JONES INDEX…	GAINS POSTED in GREEN LOSSES POSTED in RED
	8/7/17… 15,687.07 7/31/17… 15,633.58 6/27/13… 15,000.00

(THE DOW JONES INDEX: 8/7/17… 22,092.31; 7/31/17… 21,830.31; 6/27/13… 15,000.00)

LESSON for August 7, 2017 – POOR RICHARD’S (and a few of his wealthy cronies’) ALMANACK!

And now… a few days late due to computer problems (those damn Russians!)…we come to what many believe to be the meat of Mr. Franklin’s advice – the raw, red meat of money.

Money… who has it, who doesn’t and how them as have use it… has fascinated human beings since the cavemen traded shards of flint and shells for roots and berries, dead animals and (for those of a religio-artistic bent) commissioning a cave painting in the hope of securing a good hunting season.

No mistaking it, the cut and dried measure of a man in America and in the world is the size of his wallet… and Americans are measured by their Per Capita Income. We have no less than three questors after what Don Jones makes (or steals) in a year, courtesy of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and our on Central Intelligence Agency. To apply only the average to our index would be flying in the face of reality, counting all three might be evidence of an incipient and unwelcome plutophilia, so we counted the average score twice (in other words, two thirds of the individual survey results).

The richest nation in the world… considering only cold hard cash…was the oil-sodden kingdom of Qatar. No wonder that hungry neighbors… including such poverty cases as the Saudis, Kuwaitis and Emirates… are sabre rattling, their throwback to Iraq 1’s adventures a minor key annoyance to America, behind that of the Russians and the North Koreans.

The United States finished twelfth. Not the greatest… but not bad, considering most of the higher finishers were higher European or Gulf Oil states with small, homogenic populations. Our problems occur later

The next other factors included those inevitable dark twins of economics - the “Misery Index” of inflation and unemployment.

Drawing mainly from the Central Intelligence Agency, but also from a few other sources, the compilers Photius and Theodora tracked unemployment and inflation in some 200 countries, from the very large to the very small.

Unemployment has been dropping here, but still remains a problem. We ranked 49^th, although possibly higher now, given the recent Trump-fueled hiring. The lowest unemployment was in the former Communist hellhole of Cambodia, now remaking itself as an outsourcing lair for China and a sex-trafficking hotspot. The lowest… in fact, negative… inflation was in Greece, where it seems that nobody has any more money to buy things.

Don’t blame Don Jones for our lack of status. The United States ranked 5^th in productivity among the truncated OECD roster of rich white countries. The winner was Luxembourg, that station between France and Germany

Equality, or its lack, has been much in vogue as a topic for the talking heads, and the best measure of it, to date, is the GINI index, a measure of statistical dispersion intended to represent the income distribution of a nation's residents, and the most commonly used measure of inequality. It was developed by the Italian statistician and sociologist Corrado Gini in 1912.

If Don Jones wished to journey to the most equal nation in the world, he and the family would have to travel to the small, ex-Communist republic of Slovenia (which, as it turn out, was the native soil of the First Lady, Melania Trump). Does the concept of equality mean that wives will be more demanding than usual… it so, the Donald may want to curb his tirades and tweets.

Despite our high productivity, the United States finished a dismal 82^nd in equality and this will only keep going down should the Republicans ever pass their tax and budget bills.

The final two Indices remind us that national governments have to be held accountable; these are issues that primarily concern the national governments and their guardians.

The budgetary category ranks those financial wizards who tax and spend – the thriftiest souls in the world are on the tiny island of Anguilla – so tiny in fact that it failed to meet the minimum number of ranked categories for inclusion. America… not so good, 52^nd/

Finally, the question arises among those fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to have gained the attention of the financial ratings analysts, planners, journals and investors who follow the Standard and Poor index of bond ratings. We’re still doing alright, just below the top eleven triple A countries, with a double A plus rank (although we also note that they have determined our prognosis to be negative).

And, the winner?

They didn’t finish first in any category except in an eleven-way tie for the Standard and Poor ratings but, for centuries, the rest of the world has acknowledged the Swiss to be at the apex of the moneyhandling mob. They crushed the Scandinavians and the Gulf States by a wide margin, and put plenty of distance between themselves and the runners up… Germany and Luxembourg.

Down at the bottom? Gambia… worse, even, than Afghanistan. (More recent conflict states where questioneers did not venture included Syria and North Korea.)

It was far from a negative week for both the Dow and the Don… both soared to record highs. Don Jones benefitted from a lower unemployment rate and an upsurge in our import/export balance… and hey, there’s not one but two (2!) record lottery jackpots alive this week.

So – here are the results!

Per Capita Income (as measured by… )
	World Bank	Interntl. Monetary Fund	Central Intelligence Agency	Prodtvty.	Inflation	Unemplt.	Equality	Budget	Solvency

	Average Score	Country	Rank	Int $	Rank	Int $	Rank	Int $	P.C.I. Avg.	GDP per hrs. worked		CIA (via Photius.com)		CIA (via Theodora)		Via GINI (See above)		Surplus or Deficit (-)		Standard & Poor
										Rank	Sum	Rank	Rate	Rank	Rate	Rank	Rate	Rank	Rate	Rank	Rating	Prognosis
1	12.25	Switzerland	9	59,561	7	62,882	12	59,400	9	10	56.5	3	-0.34	27	3.40	17	28.7	22	0.40	1t	AAA	STABLE
2	18.9	Germany	18	48,111	16	48,730	19	48,200	19	8	59.5	19	0.84	42	4.30	13	27.0	20	0.60	11t	AAA	NEGATIVE
3	19.5	Luxembourg	2	104,003	2	105,882	2	102,000	2	1	83.6	13	0.54	79	6.70	27	30.4	21	0.50	11t	AAA	NEGATIVE
4	23.4	Sweden	15	49,836	15	49,175	17	49,700	16	12	56.3	30	1.39	80	6.90	4	24.9	28	-0.40	1t	AAA	STABLE
5	24.5	Denmark	20	47,985	14	49,496	23	46,600	20	6	63.5	10	0.4	40	4.20	3	24.8	48	-2.50	1t	AAA	STABLE
6	24.5	Norway	6	69,249	8	59,302	9	69,300	7	3	79.1	105	3.53	50t	4.80	11	26.8	12	2.90	1t	AAA	STABLE
7	26.0	Qatar	1	127,660	1	127,523	1	129,700	1			41	1.9	2	0.70			91	-7.80	20	AA	STABLE
8	26.0	United Arab Emirates	8	67,871	5	72,419	10	67,700	8			22	1.1	15	2.40			83	-6.10	20	AA	STABLE
9	27.0	Australia	17	48,899	17	46,790	18	48,800	17	14	52.7	45	2.1	63	5.80	25	30.3	44	-2.10	1t	AAA	STABLE
10	27.0	Ireland	7	69,231	6	68,883	8	69,400	6	2	79.7	5	-0.1	89	8.00	30	31.3	31	-0.80	47	BBB+	STABLE
11	27.1	Austria	19	48,005	13	50,078	21	47,900	18	11	53.8	29	1.35	67	6.10	20	29.2	37	-1.40	17	AA+	NEGATIVE
12	27.25	Netherlands	13	51,049	12	50,898	15	50,800	14	9	61.7	58	2.4	69	6.20	6	25.1	37	-1.40	11t	AAA	NEGATIVE
13	30.1	Korea, South	30	37,740	29	35,751	33	37,900	30	30	31.8*	28	1.3	34	4.00	24	30.2	35	-1.20
14	30.9	Finland	26	42,165	20	43,053	29	41,800	25	13	51.4	15	0.65	102	9.10	12	26.8	44	-2.10	11t	AAA	NEGATIVE
15	32.4	Canada	22	46,437	19	44,025	24	46,200	21	18	48.9	34	1.49	84	7.10	32	32.1	48	-2.50	1t	AAA	STABLE
16	33.4	United States	11	57,436	9	57,467	13	57,300	12	5	62.9	38	1.69	49	4.70	82	45.0	52	-2.90	17	AA+	NEGATIVE
17	33.5	Belgium	23	45,047	18	46,383	25	44,900	22	4	64.4*	40	1.77	98	8.40	7	25.9	50	-2.70	25	AA	NEGATIVE
18	33.5	Japan	27	41,275	22	41,470	30	38,900	27	20	41.4*	7	0.1	25	3.20	61	37.9	73	-5.00	30	AA-	NEGATIVE
19	34.0	St. Kitts and Nevis	49	25,940	42	26,686	55	25,500	49			17	0.7	45	4.50			10	3.90
20	34.1	France	25	42,314	23	41,466	28	42,400	26	7	61.6	12	0.53	107	9.70	23	30.1	55	-3.20	17	AA+	NEGATIVE
21	35.0	United Kingdom	24	42,481	21	42,609	27	42,500	24	15	47.5*	66	2.6	55	5.10	34	32.4	61	-3.80	1t	AAA	STABLE
22	36.0	Taiwan										54	2.3	31	3.90	39	33.6	30	-0.60	26	AA-	STABLE
23	36.1	Iceland	16	49,136	11	51,399	20	48,100	15	19	40.5*	146	5.3	19	2.70	15	28.0	3	12.50	57	BBB-	STABLE
24	36.3	Singapore	3	90,151	3	87,856	3	90,100	3			124	4.4	14	2.10	90	46.4	19	0.70	1t	AAA	STABLE
25	37.0	Malta	28	39,834	27	37,899	32	37,900	28			61	2.5	47	4.60	15	27.7	34	-1.10	46	A-	NEGATIVE
26	38.0	Israel	34	35,179	26	37,901	38	34,800	33	23	35.1	4	-0.3	54	5.00	77	42.8	48	-2.50	32	A+	STABLE
27	41.1	Spain	33	36,416	28	36,310	36	36,500	32	17	47.3	16	0.68	170	19.70	51	35.9	64	-4.10	51	BBB+	NEGATIVE
28	41.6	Kuwait	5	71,887			7	71,300	5			87	3.2	23	3.00	38	33.4	113	-16.50	20	AA	STABLE
29	43.3	Romania	58	22,348	49	23,626	61	22,300	37			21	1.1	77	6.70	14	27.3	51	-2.80	66	BB+	STABLE
30	43.5	Italy	32	36,833	25	38,161	37	36,300	31	16	47.4	6	0.09	131	11.40	32	31.9	49	-2.60	51	BBB+	NEGATIVE
31	46.4	Sri Lanka	93	12,262	85	12,316	107	11,200	94			181	7.5	44	4.50	99	49.0	78	-5.50	85	B+	STABLE
32	47.2	Croatia	57	22,795	50	23,596	60	22,400	57			78	2.9	150	15.80	32	32.0	48	-2.50	57	BBB-	STABLE
33	47.4	Slovenia	37	32,085	31	32,885	41	32,000	38	22	36.9	62	2.5	132	11.60	1	23.7	50	-2.70	34	A+	NEGATIVE
34	47.5	Czech Republic	36	33,232	30	34,711	40	33,200	36	25	34.4	37	1.54	61	5.60	5	24.9	29	-0.50	20	AA	STABLE
35	48.0	Estonia	41	29,313	37	29,365	45	29,500	42	31	30.0	90	3.3	73	6.50	50	35.6	26	-0.20	30	AA-	NEGATIVE
36	49.4	Bahrain	14	50,704			16	50,300	10			80	3.0	38	4.10			109	-13.90
37	49.4	Portugal	42	28,933	35	30,624	46	28,500	43	26	32.7	14	0.58	130	11.30	43	34.2	47	-2.40
38	49.6	Brunei	4	76,884	4	77,441	5	79,700	4			23	1.2	81	6.90			111	-15.90
39	51.5	New Zealand	31	37,294	24	39,059	35	37,100	29	21	37.8	24	1.2	57	5.10	53	36.2	23	0.30	20	AA	STABLE
40	51.6	San Marino	10	59,058			11	65,300	11			84	3.1	100	8.70			52	-2.90
41	52.25	Slovak Republic	39	31,339	34	30,632	43	31,200	40	24	38.3*	108	3.6	116	9.80	8	26.0	47	-2.40	35	A	STABLE
42	54.2	Palau	79	15,319	71	15,373	82	15,300	78			70	2.7	39	4.20			6	8.80
43	56.7	Latvia	50	25,710	44	26,031	54	25,700	50t	32	26.4	60	2.5	113	9.60			35	-1.20	57	BBB-	STABLE
44	59.1	Cyprus	35	34,970	32	32,580	39	34,400	35			95	3.4	134	11.80	45	34.8	34	-1.10	69	BB+	NEGATIVE
45	59.3	Mexico	64	18,938	61	17,862	68	18,900	65	35	18.5	93	3.31	43	4.40	96	48.3	53	-3.00
46	60.2	Myanmar	127	5,832	121	5,773	137	5,200	131			82	2.4	50t	4.80			53	-3.00
47	60.4	Kazakhstan	52	25,145	46	25,264	53	25,700	50t			143	5.2	62	5.70	18	28.9	53	-3.00	47	BBB+	STABLE
48	61.0	Bulgaria	61	20,327	58	19,199	66	20,100	63			55	2.4	104	8.90	49	35.4	38	-1.50
49	61.1	Thailand	73	16,888	64	16,917	77	16,800	73			85	3.1	4	0.90	97	48.4	49	-2.60	47	BBB+	STABLE
50	61.4	Antigua/Barbuda	51	25,157	54	22,414	57	24,100	55			31	1.4	126	11.00			40	-1.70
51	61.4	Chile	55	24,113	48	23,960	58	24,000	54	33	23.7*	79	2.93	83	7.00	107	52.1	49	-2.60	32	A+	STABLE
52	61.4	China	78	15,399	70	15,535	81	15,400	77			54	2.3	41	4.20	94	46.9	61	-3.80	26	AA-	STABLE
53	61.4	Poland	43	27,764	39	27,811	48	27,700	45			107	3.6	112	9.60	35	32.4	51	-2.80	35	A	STABLE
54	61.6	Hungary	45	27,482	43	26,681	49	27,200	47	28	31.0	152	5.6	76	6.60	27	30.6	47	-2.40	69	BB+	NEGATIVE
55	63.6	Moldova	132	5,328	125	5,334	142	5,000	134			131	4.5	70	6.30	16	28.5	47	-2.40
56	63.7	Malaysia	46	27,267	40	27,681	50	27,200	46			140	5.1	26	3.30	89	46.2	57	-3.40	42	A-	STABLE
57	63.9	Saudi Arabia	12	55,158	10	54,431	14	54,100	13			65	2.6	128	11.20	87	45.9	108	-13.60	26	AA-