US falls in global competitiveness for third year in a row.
9/7/11, "US drops to fifth in WEF global competitiveness ranking," BBC
"The US economy has declined in an annual study of global competitiveness for the third year in a row, falling from fourth place to fifth.
The World Economic Forum says economic problems, falling trust in its politicians and government inefficiency contributed to its fall.
Switzerland topped the table, followed by Singapore and then Sweden. Finland jumped from seventh to fourth.
The survey is compiled using public data as well as executive opinion.
The WEF says the report is designed to identify advantages and impediments to national growth in order to offer a benchmarking tool to both the public and private sectors as well as others.
Northern and Western Europe dominate the top ten,
- with Japan, in ninth place,
the only other Asian economy among the leaders.
The UK has moved up to 10th place from 12th last year.
Germany was the leading country within the eurozone for competitiveness, ranked at sixth place.
- France fell three places to 18th, while deficit-battling Greece was placed 90th out of 142. ...
China, the world's second biggest economy, only ranked in 26th place for competitiveness.
Among the other leading emerging markets of Brazil, India and Russia, none were in the top 50.
The report uses 12 categories to assess a country's ranking: institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, health and primary education, higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labour market efficiency, financial market development, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication and innovation.""===============
In 2010 the US fell to #4, having lost its #1 spot in 2009
9/9/10, "U.S. Falls Again in Competitiveness Rankings," DailyFinance.com,
"After losing the top spot to Switzerland last year in the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report, the U.S. no longer even ranks among the top three. ...
While Switzerland kept its top ranking in this year's report, the U.S. fell two places to fourth position, overtaken by Sweden, which moved up two spots to second place, and Singapore, which remained in third place. Rounding out the top five is Germany, which kept its ranking....
The U.S. has "many structural features that make its economy extremely productive" such as its university system, business sector R&D, sophistication and innovation, as well as its sheer size. But "a number of escalating weaknesses have lowered the US ranking over the past two years." The report notes the "macroeconomic imbalances that have been building up over time," as well as the "weakening of the United States' public and private institutions," and the "lingering concerns about the state of its financial markets.""
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World Economic Forum website. They also host the Davos glitterati forum every year.
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