The US topped world competitiveness rankings for the 15th straight year. Singapore and Hong Kong ranked just behind, as they did last year. "Everyone is catching up very quickly, but so far the U.S. economy is showing a lot of resilience."
The study lists 55 economies according to 331 criteria that measure how the nations create and maintain conditions favorable to businesses. The U.S. position was cemented by its domestic economy, which is the world's strongest, topping all others in its amount of investments, stock purchases and commercial service exports.
The U.S. also ranks as the easiest place to secure venture capital for business development and dominates all other economies in key technology criteria such as computers in use, according to the report.
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.
"The big question is whether the United States will be No. 1 after this year," project director Stephane Garelli said, adding that the report was based on 2007 data that do not fully reflect all of the problems in U.S. financial markets. "Everyone is catching up very quickly, but so far the U.S. economy is showing a lot of resilience."
http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/15/news/economy/world_competitiveness.ap/
