Report: U.S. is Most Competitive Economy

verfasst von Cosa, 12.11.2002, 16:03

--><font size="5">Report: U.S. is Most Competitive Economy</font>

November 12, 2002 09:34 AM ET


LONDON (Reuters) - The United States has regained top spot as the world's most competitive economy and has the best prospects for growth over the next five to eight years, the World Economic Forum said in a report published on Tuesday.

The U.S. pushed Finland into second place in the rankings of 80 countries for both growth potential and current competitiveness in the Global Competitiveness Report 2002-2003.

In the 2001 report, Finland, home of the world's biggest mobile phone maker Nokia, was first and the U.S. second in both categories.

The growth competitiveness index is made up of three variables -- technology, the quality of public institutions and the macroeconomic environment -- that drive medium and long-term growth.

"Competitive countries can be expected to return to a sustained growth path faster and earlier than those that are less competitive," the report said. The report is based on a mixture of statistics, public information and surveys of 4,800 business leaders.

The U.S. ranks first both for its technology and for the macroeconomic environment but only 16th in terms of the way public institutions are perceived.

Finland also scores highly on technology and its public institutions are perceived as the best in the world, according to the report by the Geneva-based WEF, which aims to provide a forum for discussion of key issues in business, politics and economics.

Taiwan is ranked third by growth competitiveness, Singapore retains fourth position, Sweden rises to fifth from ninth and Switzerland jumps to sixth from just 15th in 2001.

Canada is a big faller among the leaders in growth potential, slipping to eighth from third, while the Netherlands slides to 15th from eighth.

Japan, whose recession-plagued economy has shown a slight recovery this year, improves markedly in the rankings, rising to 13th from 21st.

The index of microeconomic competitiveness measures the ability of an economy to make the most of its current resources, in terms of the sophistication of company operations and strategy and of the quality of the national business environment.

After the U.S. and Finland, the United Kingdom takes third position, rising from seventh in 2001.

Germany, Switzerland and Sweden are steady in fourth, fifth and sixth positions respectively while the Netherlands slides to seventh from third.

Among other big movers, Chile rises to 20th in the growth index from 27th last year while France slides to 30th from 20th.

Italy is the lowest ranked of the 14 European Union members listed (Luxembourg is not included) in terms of growth potential at 39th, one place below Greece.

Estonia is the highest rated, at 26th, of the 10 countries likely to join the EU in 2004.

Argentina and Turkey, which have both suffered wrenching financial crises this year, fall to 63rd and 69th from 49th and 54th respectively.

Greece is the lowest ranked EU member in terms of microeconomic competitiveness, in 43rd place, while Slovenia in 27th is the highest ranked accession candidate.

Quelle: reuters

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• Report: U.S. is Most Competitive Economy - Cosa, 12.11.2002, 16:03
  • Re: Report: U.S. is Most Competitive Economy - - ELLI -, 12.11.2002, 19:13
    • Re: Report: U.S. is Most Competitive Economy - XERXES, 12.11.2002, 19:17