The United States fell two spots to fourth position in The Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011. The shortcoming brings the United States behind Switzerland, Sweden and Singapore; and places further pressure on the nation to recover from its downward trend.
While there are a range of components that allow the United States economy to remain “extremely productive, a number of escalating weaknesses have lowered the U.S. ranking over the past two years,†according to the report. Growing public debt, lack of trust in politicians, and diminished corporate ethics were among the weaknesses of the United States.
Rankings 2010-11
1 Â Â Switzerland
2 Â Â Sweden
3 Â Â Singapore
4 Â Â United States
5 Â Â Germany
6 Â Â Japan
7 Â Â Finland
8 Â Â Netherlands
9 Â Â Denmark
10 Canada
The report provides a range of assessments and recommendations, including a Global Competitiveness Index that ranks 139 countries on 12 pillars of competitiveness:
- Institutions
- Infrastructure
- Macroeconomic Environment
- Healthy and Primary Education
- Higher Education and Training
- Goods Market Efficiency
- Labor Market Efficiency
- Financial Market Development
- Technological Readiness
- Market Size
- Business Sophistication
- Innovation
The report did credit U.S. companies for “being highly sophisticated and innovative, supported by an excellent university system that collaborates strongly with the business sector in R&D.†The size of the U.S. domestic economy – the largest in the world – still allows the nation to remain competitive, the report added.
How the nation will respond to its strengths and leverage its weaknesses will be seen in the future.
Tags: global competition, Public Policy