Nearly all of the ones ahead of the USA are clearly city-states or oil/gas sources. Both are unreasonable comparisons. The city-states could properly be compared with Manhattan. The oil/gas sources may have a high GDP, but the typical people tend to be in poverty. Ireland and Switzerland are the only clear exceptions, and both are rather small countries. Norway is an oil/gas source, but might also be an exception because things are run a bit better than they are in the typical oil/gas source.