Happy Wednesday! I hope you enjoy this week's dispatch. It took a lot of work and I'm really proud of it. If you think others might like it, please share widely. Your recommendations help keep Not-Ship afloat!
💙 Amanda
Americans have long believed their country is exceptional: uniquely great, superior to other nations, destined for a special role in the world. Outstanding.
But exceptional has another meaning: Atypical.
Lately, America has been living up to that second definition. Just days ago, the US pulled out of 66 international agreements; in some cases, the first country to do so. And on Jan. 22, the nation will officially ditch the World Health Organization.
The US is doing things its own way — proudly the exception.
This behaviour doesn't surprise me. If you spend as much time looking at international data as I do, a pattern emerges: One data point off on its own. It's the American outlier.
Exceptional, yes. But maybe not in the way some Americans would like to think.
In many of the ways we measure 'the good life' — health, work-life balance, safety, faith in government — the US is falling short. And not just a little bit. Over and over again, data show the US performing substantially worse than similar countries.
Here's a stark example:
Americans spend more on health, but don't live as long
Life expectancy vs. health spending in 2023, OECD and partner countries.
For most OECD countries, there's a basic pattern: Spending more on health means longer lives. But the US has bucked the trend.
Here's another American outlier:
The US puts the most people in prison — by far
Incarceration rates for OECD countries, 2018.
You'll notice that I often contrast the US with other OECD countries. These nations have similar economies and political systems, making them a good group for comparison. (While the chart above shows that the US has a higher incarceration rate than all other OECD nations, it also has the highest incarceration rate in the world.)
Maybe you already know about America's poor health record, or shockingly high prison population. But looking at the international data provides important context, and shows how much of an outlier the US really is.
Okay. One more.
The US is alone in not giving paid time off for new parents
Length of legislated paid parental leave in OECD countries, 2024.
Now that you know what to look for, watch out! You'll start to see evidence of America's statistical non-conformity everywhere. I know I do.
Sometimes the US stands out because it is the most in a category — most expensive, most numerous, most deadly.
At the other extreme, the US may be off on its own because it represents the least of something — least cooperative, least concerned, least trustworthy.
These examples all show the US falling behind. If I were American, it wouldn't inspire pride.
The problem is, data showing the US outperforming its peers are hard to find. I looked through nearly 300 OECD performance metrics — data on economics, social welfare, education, health, and environment — searching for examples where America was an outlier for positive results. There were very few.
The US leads in mobile broadband subscriptions, international student enrollment, agriculture support, household disposable income, and numerous measures of foreign direct investment. It has the lowest tax on goods and services as a percentage of GDP.
In total dollars, the US gives the most international aid. Unfortunately, that's now trending downward after the Trump administration slashed billions in life-saving foreign funding last year.
There are simply many more examples where the US is an outlier because it's dropping the ball. Here are a couple more:
Among wealthy democracies, the United States is often an anomaly, but rarely for good reasons.
In his 2025 inaugural address, Donald Trump promised that "America will soon be greater, stronger, and far more exceptional than ever before." Based on the trajectory the country is on — withdrawing from international agreements, slashing foreign aid, and continuing to lag behind on the metrics that actually matter for people's lives — he might be right.
I CAN'T STOP
Let's not forget: There are also so many areas where the US isn't an extreme outlier, but where the country's inferior performance is particularly surprising given its long-standing claim to be "the greatest country on earth."
- High infant mortality rates
- Low public spending on family benefits
- High beef consumption
- Large numbers of people overburdened with rent
- High amounts of non-recycled city waste
- No environmental tax
- High rates of intimate partner violence
- Large poverty gap for those over 66
- High rate of traffic deaths
- Low Freedom in the World score
- Inadequate minimum income benefits
- High GHG emissions per person
😮💨 PHEW!
YOUR TURN!
📣 Share your finds. Where else have you seen the American outlier? Send your examples to me on Bluesky or LinkedIn, or simply respond to this email. If I get enough, watch out for Part Two!
Dig into the data yourself. The numbers behind every chart in this piece are available to paying members of Not-Ship. You'll also get the data behind every other Not-Ship dispatch — and my enormous gratitude for your support.
FROM ELSEWHERE
Here's what I found interesting, important or delightful this week:
"My Geiger counter cost $22.79." My former colleague Alexandra Petri is a hoot. And yet, her humour always manages to hit where it hurts. As the US government cuts away important services, Petri tries to do them herself.
1 dataset; 100 visualizations. That's all you need to know.
American public transport is also exceptional. An American YouTuber tackles his viewers' thoughts on the differences between US and UK public transport.
Member discussion