Large cities in America, where the digital age was invented, now have generally slower and more expensive internet services, according to this recent report from The New America Foundation:

The results indicate that U.S. consumers in major cities tend to pay higher prices for slower speeds compared to consumers abroad. For example, when comparing triple play packages in the 22 cities surveyed, consumers in Paris can purchase a 100 Mbps bundle of television, telephone, and high-speed Internet service for the equivalent of approximately $35 (adjusted for PPP). By contrast, in Lafayette, LA, the top American city, the cheapest available package costs around $65 and includes just a 6 Mbps Internet connection. A comparison of Internet plans available for around $35 shows similar results.  Residents of Hong Kong have access to Internet service with symmetrical download and upload speeds of 500 Mbps while residents of New York City and Washington, D.C. will pay the equivalent price for Internet service with maximum download speeds that are 20 times slower (up to 25 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 2 Mbps).

The results add weight to a growing body of evidence that suggests that the U.S. is lagging behind many of its international counterparts, most of whom have much higher levels of competition and, in turn, offer lower prices and faster Internet service. It suggests that policymakers need to re-evaluate our current policy approaches to increase competition and encourage more affordable high-speed Internet service in the U.S. 

Ezra Klein reports that median net worth of Americans is lower than for 16 other developed countries:  Australia, Italy, Japan, UK, Switzerland, Ireland, France, Canada, Norway, Finland, Spain, New Zealand, Netherlands, Israel, China/Taiwan, and Germany.

The chart is based on Table 7.1 of this Credit Suisse report (pdf). Hat tip Angry Bear.

Mark Rice, Chair of American Studies at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York, maintains an interesting blog, Ranking America, in which he posts country rankings on an extraordinarily broad range of topics. Recent posts report that Americans are #2 (right behind Romania) among 35 advanced nations in childhood poverty.  The US ranks 45th in civil liberties, which is the "lowest of any fully democratic countries."  Perhaps the most devastating is that the US ranks 50th in measured lengths of erect penises.  How tiny is it?  Details here. 

The 2013 Credit Suisse report is out.  Table 3.1 shows that 26 nations have higher median net worth per adult than the US. 

Hat tip to Kenneth Thomas, who did the sorting and has a good discussion here.