[virmundi]

Fair point. Poor wording on my part.

Given the way the ranking under discussion values tertiary education and given how much the Soviets had them but didn't succeed economically, is having a high number of them really beneficial? It takes resources and time to get a PhD or a masters. Are these the best thing on which to spend them? Do they really matter? Can you be more practically innovative with simple undergrad degrees?

[SAI_Peregrinus]

Innovation and economic success are not the same thing.

[virmundi]

While not necessarily so, they do seem to have are strong causal relationship. The more innovative an economy, the more economic freedom it has.