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The United States has once again become the most competitive country in the world, returning to first place since 2008 in an index established by the World Economic Forum, according to which the country could still do better on social issues.
America climbed one place in the ranking of 140 countries, the top five being completed by Singapore, Germany, Switzerland, and Japan. The scores of the five countries increased compared to 2017, with the United States ranking second among the largest gains after Japan.
The first place has not been won by the United States since the financial crisis has blocked production and triggered a global economic slowdown.
"The economic recovery is well underway and the global economy is expected to grow by almost 4% in 2018 and 2019," says the report released Tuesday by the organization that produces the Davos conference on the global economy.
However, "the recovery remains vulnerable to a range of risks and potential shocks," the authors warned. They cite the trade war between US producers and China as a possible obstacle to growth, which could derail the recovery and discourage investment. The United States has collected tariffs on a total of $ 250 billion in Chinese goods and China has responded with tariffs on $ 110 billion of US exports as the two countries compete for trade imbalances and other problems.
Companies that repatriated the manufacturing sector in the United States claim that tariffs increase their costs and make them less competitive.
This year's Global Competitiveness Report assessed 140 countries out of 98 indicators measuring business investment and productivity. Indicators are organized into 12 main productivity factors, including country institutions, advanced technologies, infrastructure, education systems, market size and innovation.
The report assesses how well countries fit the competitive ideal. The United States scored 85.6 out of 100. America's dynamic entrepreneurial culture and its pre-eminence to creating a competitive labor market and a flexible financial system "are among the many factors that contribute to making of the United States' innovation ecosystem one of the best in the world, "the report says.
Still, "there is still room for improvement," according to the authors. Although the country's institutional framework remains relatively strong, there are indications of a weakening of the social fabric and a deterioration of the security situation. The report notes that the rate of homicides in the United States is five times higher than the average of advanced economies.
Measured in terms of judicial independence and levels of corruption, the United States is not in the top 10.
The country is also lagging behind most advanced economies in terms of healthy life expectancy, which measures the expected years of life in good health. In the United States, the figure is 67.7 years, slightly lower than that of Sri Lanka and China and three years below the average of advanced economies.
Technology penetration is also relatively low compared to other developed economies, including mobile broadband subscriptions and Internet usage. Only 76% of adult Americans use the Internet regularly, which is below the average for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
In the overall standings, Switzerland fell to fourth place this year compared to first place, ahead of the United States, Singapore and Germany. Japan, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Denmark complete the top 10.
The ranking is based on public data on measures such as inflation and the level of indebtedness, as well as a survey of CEOs.
Write to Joanna Sugden at [email protected]
