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 49th, 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 5th 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 82nd 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, 52nd/
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- |