Michael Moore's "Sicko" is hot internet news

[kandrathe]

Well, I suppose there would be a kind of pleasing symmetry if the US spent more per head than any other Western nation on (private) education but had the worst literacy rate; after all, it currently spends more per head on healthcare but has the worst infant mortality.

The education problem is pretty easy to diagnose. The curse of low expectations, zero accountability, and parental apathy.

It isn't for lack of trying that the infants die. CDC - Infant mortality in the US

The US rate is declining consistently, but remains higher than European nations due to a number of factors. We have a higher rate of teen pregnancy, a higher rate of pregnant mothers who use drugs, including cigarettes, and our poor mothers do not practice prenatal care, even though it is free. We also suffer from a high rate of immigration, which continues to put pressure on all social systems, including schools, medical, and other government services. For example, a close friend of mine is an administrator in a large public city school where they are forced to try to accomodate non-english speaking children from 60 nations around the world. My guess is that Sweden is not so fortunate.