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Daily Pulse

Stay cool, America

Paddy Hirsch Sep 6, 2011

The U.S. is still the coolest kid on the block. So says a survey of 30,000 people all round the world by badoo.com. We knew this all the time, of course, but the word that we’re still cooler than Brazil and Spain pushes the Marketplace Index up two points today.

OK, we know this is a little frivolous. This is America! We don’t care what the rest of the world thinks of us! (And that’s what makes us really cool, right?)

Except that we do. We care a lot, and we should care. Because, as anyone who’s ever watched people drooling over an iPod, a pair of Levis or even a picture of Tom Cruise knows, cool sells. And if cool sells, it means America is still up and punching its weight in the world.

If cool sells, it means there’s still a market for our stuff. Our technology, our fashion, our movies, our food. And where there’s a market, there’s the opportunity for growth, for sales, for more jobs, and more innovation and even more cool.

Cool may sound like froth. It may even be froth, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. When the rest of the world says they think you’re the coolest, you’ve got a choice. You can wave them off as irrelevant.

Or you can step up. And own it.

Here’s the full list:

The Top 10 Coolest Nationalities:

  1. Americans
  2. Brazilians
  3. Spanish
  4. Italians
  5. French
  6. British
  7. Dutch
  8. Mexicans
  9. Argentinians
  10. Russians

The 5 Least Cool:

  1. Belgians
  2. Poles
  3. Turks
  4. Canadians
  5. Germans

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