Lesson for the day: I found this a year late but the Economist's Democracy Index, formulated in 2007, is an interesting one. Sweden sits comfortably on top (9.88 on 10) while Iceland, Netherlands, Norway and Denmark all clear the 9.50 mark. Read more about it in the Great Magazine.
Which brings me to a completely tangential point but one that tennis fans might spend some time thinking about. A good democracy translates to poor tennis players. OK, that's rubbish. But Sweden, a traditional powerhouse, has to settle for Robin Soderling as their highest ranked player (ATP ranked 35). Thomas Johansson, a former Australian Open Champion, currently sits at 87 and there's no one else in the top 100. And this is the country that produced Borg, Willander and Edberg. Heck even Thomas Enqvist and Magnus Larsson had their moments.
Rafael Nadal's Spain is No.16 in the democracy list and Roger Federer's Switzerland is at 10. Iceland, Netherlands and Denmark don't have anyone in the top 100. Finland (sixth in the democracy list) has just one representative, Jarkko Nieminen at No.33. Luxembourg's finest is at No.68, Australia's best (Lleyton Hewitt) is one rank lower, and Canada has no one in the top 100.
Now I'm not surprised how Serbia (No.55 in the democracy index), Russia (No.102), Argentina (No.54) and France (No.24) are producing a conveyor belt of talent. Cut those freedoms, I say.
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