I'm not sure how much deep-down importance to place on this list. It is interesting none-the-less. I mean Finland at the top and Italy at 41, seems reasonable to me. Some people, I imagine, will want to quibble a bit about the other postions in the ranking:
Finland is the world's most competitive economy followed by the United States, Sweden, Denmark and Taiwan, according to a Global Competitiveness Report released on Thursday. Britain dropped four places to 15th and Canada fell off 2002's top 10 list to stand 16th, both penalized for declines in the quality of their public institutions, the Geneva-based World Economic Forum (news - web sites) said in a survey of 102 countries.
The survey among business leaders measured economic competitiveness based on a combination of technology, the quality of public institutions and the macroeconomic environment. Finland, home to mobile phone giant Nokia (news - web sites), remained in first place. The United States scored high on technology but weak on the quality of its public institutions and economic environment, particularly public finances, where it ranked 50th. Germany moved up one notch to 13th and France gained two places to 26th. The WEF said both countries showed improvements driven by better public institutions and technology, despite budgets troubles.
"If there is one lesson from our exercise, it is that the strength and coherence of government policies have an enormous bearing on a country's ranking," Augusto Lopez-Claros, chief economist of the WEF, said in a statement. Italy is the lowest ranked European Union member 41st, down from last year's place at 33. Taiwan and Singapore are Asia's best performing countries. Each moved up one place, with Taiwan rising into fifth place due to its technology strengths, and Singapore into sixth place because of a sound economy and quality of public institutions.
Source: Yahoo News
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