SCORING
Appendix B shows the indicator
scores discussed beforehand. Each indicator was weighted. The weighting process
was subjective. I tried to take into account the discussions presented
throughout the paper. I first rank-ordered and weighted the major categories.
Then within each major category, I rank-ordered and rated each indicator. Figure
24 shows the resulting weightings.
Appendix C shows the
calculation of the weighted scores. The weighted scores were averaged rather
than summed in order to accommodate for missing scores. In order to make the
results more apparent, I calculated a differentiated score based on the average
weighted scores. The differentiated scores ranged from 0 to 10 with 0
representing the lowest rated country and 10 the top rated country. The average
weighted scores and differentiated scores are summarized in Figure 25.
The top rated countries were Singapore followed by Hong Kong. They were rated substantially higher than any other countries. The next highest rated country was Taiwan at 8.0; then Japan and Switzerland at 7.3. Most of the industrialized nations fell in the range of 6 to 7.
The lowest rated country was Turkey followed by Pakistan, India, Philippines, South Africa, and Mexico
The United States scored seventh at 6.7.
