Wednesday, May 14, 2008
U.S. competitiveness tops the globe for 15th year
According to at least one organization that ranks these things, the United States is the world's most competitive economy for the 15th year running. That said, its streak is in jeopardy:
The United States topped world competitiveness rankings for the 15th straight year, but its economy is showing the same signs of weakness that sank booming Japan in the early 1990s, according to an annual survey released Thursday.
Asian tigers Singapore and Hong Kong ranked just behind the U.S., as they did last year. Switzerland jumped two places to fourth, while Luxembourg rounded out the top five most competitive national economies, said the Lausanne, Switzerland-based, IMD business school, publisher of the World Competitiveness Yearbook.
Of course, the second, third, fourth and fifth place contenders are not actually real countries. Three are essentially city-states, and Switzerland is a fairy-tale land that has gotten rich free-riding on global conflict (OK, that was a bit harsh, but you know what I mean). The first large countries on the list are Australia and Canada, and while they punch above weight in the Anglosphere even they have 10% or less of our population. So we have a long way to fall before we are overtaken in this survey, at least, by a country of any real size.
4 Comments:
By 
Vercingetorix, at
Wed May 14, 11:18:00 PM:
The most interesting thing about this year's list? Iceland fell from #7 in 2007 to.... well, right off the list.
I knew they were hurting with the banking crisis and currency devaluation, but that's quite a drop.
By Escort81, at
Thu May 15, 12:50:00 PM:
You are being nasty toward the Swiss just because their banks are willing to take deposits from Nazis and other assorted kleptocrats, whose money is stained with the blood of millions. But they were just trying to compete with Caymans, Lichtenstein, etc., and the money would flow elsewhere if they didn't compete. I think the Swiss are cooperating now, to the extent they can, regarding suspicious money flows with respect to terror financing.
Some years ago, I went into a bank in Geneva, and walked out thinking that compared to back home, it was more like a visit to a church than a visit to a suburban Philly bank branch.
Things I like about Switzerland:
1. Mountains
2. Skiing
3. Chocolate
4. Cheese
5 Trains
6. Swiss-French women, especially if they ski and like chocolate.
By 
, at
Thu May 15, 01:09:00 PM:
Wouldn't it be fun if the US electorate et all were so pro-growth that candidates for a variety of offices would be all like, "screw 21% of global GDP, let's go for 25%!'
Okay, that is never gonna happen. It would be funny, though, if it did.
By TigerHawk, at
Sat May 17, 07:40:00 AM:
It would be a great answer in a debate, though.
