Apple (AAPL) has been doing a great job at producing impressive growth in revenue and earnings. Sure, they were on the brink of disaster back in the late 1990’s, but they were able to put their resources to work with new innovations which have become a key to their current day successes. There is a lot that we can learn from Apple and if the company’s story were a book, it should be required reading for our present day politicians.

Think about it, Apple’s balance sheet is stronger and cleaner than most countries. With no debt and $70 billion of cash and securities, no one could argue about their long term stability measures. Frankly, comparing the debt-to-equity of Apple   and the Debt-to-GDP for developed nations is embarrassing.

The cash flow per share is strong and continues to gain while the tax revenues of the U.S. and the EuroZone countries is shrinking. Then there is the employment situation. Over the past 10 years, Apple has added 31,000 jobs (300% Gain) while here in the U.S. we have seen a drop in the millions.

So, is Apple a better investment than the U.S.A.? Here are a few items to check off that may provide a really clear answer. (Use this list for both the U.S. and Apple)

• Low Debt
• Strong Balance Sheet
• Increasing Revenues
• High Margin (Good use of expenses)
• Respected Leadership
• Innovative
• Long Term Plan for Growth
• Increasing Employment
• Low Debt Service
• A well functioning Board of Directors (Compared to Congress)

It is possible that there is the thought that Apple may be a safe haven play as the confusion continues around the debt ceiling and EuroZone crisis. It makes sense that investors would look for a large-cap stock with stellar earnings at this time. What name comes to mind?