The Institute for Economics and Peace has declared that the United States is more peaceful now than at any time in the past 20 years. The bad news, according to an analysis done by 24/7 Wall Street, is that “violence costs our economy at least $460 billion in 2010, through a combination of lost productivity and direct costs.”

“The report considers five categories — separated into three groups — to calculate the United States Peace Index for 2011. The first group includes rates of violent crimes such as robbery and aggravated assault, as well as the rates of homicide in each state. The second group relates to the institutions used to prevent violence and is measured by the number of police per capita and the number of incarcerated residents per capita. The third includes the availability of small arms.” All rates are calculated per 100,000 people.

Louisiana is ranked as the least peaceful state. It has the highest murder rate and incarceration rate in the country. Tennessee is ranked as the second most violent state, followed by Nevada, Florida, Arizona, Missouri, Texas, Arkansas and South Carolina.

Maine is considered the most peaceful state and has the lowest rate of violent crime. However, a March report from the Center for Public Integrity ranked Maine as the fifth most corrupt state in the country. Maine received F grades in nine of the 14 measured categories, including legislative accountability, lobbying disclosure and public access to information.

Georgia received the dubious number one ranking as the most corrupt state in the union, followed by South Dakota, Wyoming, Virginia, Maine, South Carolina, North Dakota and Michigan.

Before the rest of us pat ourselves on the back, it should be noted that no state earned an A, and only five states received better than a B+. More than half the states received a D+ or worse. The report found that “states with stagnant political environments often encourage corruption. Governments with high levels of corruption tend to have a political party — either the Democrats or Republicans — in power for a long time.”

As Lord Acton, the British historian, politician, and writer, once said, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Update: Yesterday, a federal judge dismissed claims of fraud and racketeering against “Three Cups of Tea” author Greg Mortenson, which I wrote about in my last blog.