While the United States is the world’s most economically prosperous nation by a large margin in terms of gross domestic product (GDP), it may not be the most resilient economy.  Although GDP is crucial for evaluating economic growth, policy makers and planners must also consider the health of their populace.  Therefore, the United Nations created a new index called the Human Development Index (HDI) that factors in life expectancy, education, and income.  Under these criteria, the US ranked only 5^th in the world, which should spark a discussion into whether the US really is as economically resilient as we all assume.