Last week, Manhattan's appellate court gave the New York City Department of Education the go-ahead to release the names and "value-added score" rankings of thousands of the city's teachers. These scores are designed to quantify the direct impact of teachers on student performance.

The 2009 Legatum Prosperity Index found that while Hong Kong and Singapore show strong economic fundamentals, in terms of noneconomic variables such as health, personal freedom, and social capital, these countries need improvement.

The Legatum Prosperity Index finds countries that dumped the shackles of communism for a system of freedom and political transparency are much more likely to be prosperous.

The Legatum Institute's Prosperity Index helps answer the question of how to promote prosperity in Latin America.

India's democratic institutions, freedom, and social capital rank it thirty places above its rival China in the 2009 Legatum Prosperity Index.

If 9/11 had never occurred, we would all be better off, but the biggest economic winners might have been the world's Muslims.

For prosperity in Africa, what is needed is a holistic approach that focuses on the building blocks that empower Africans to help themselves.

Gross domestic product (GDP) is not a sufficient measurement of prosperity, but the Legatum Institute's Prosperity Index addresses some of the shortcomings of the GDP by measuring a variety of economic and social indicators for people around the world.