Global Competitiveness Index 2007

It wasn't so long ago (that it still couldn't be blogged) that the World Economic (WE) Forum released its 2007 Global Competitiveness Index.

As always hoped for (from our parochial perspective), the U.S. topped the overall ranking. Europe (as a continent) came in second (Switzerland second among the world's countries, followed by Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Finland) with Asia third (Singapore and Japan).

For other continents, Chile ranked highest in Latin America (yes, I know that's countries on more than one continent), followed by Mexico and Costa Rica.

From another perspective, China and India are tops in large developing economies. And, it's good to note that several countries in the Middle East and Africa are in the top half of rankings. The leaders are: Israel (almost European in culture if not geography), Kuwait, Qatar,Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The WE's news release notes that only South Africa and Mauritius are in the top half for countries in the sub-Sahara.

WE said the U.S. confirmed its position as the most competitive economy by citing our capacity for technological innovation, our first-rate universities and research centers among other general economic conditions and institutions. Our weaknesses were attributed to the sub-prime mortgage crisis (surprise!) and the global credit crunch (double surprise!).

The top ten economies did tend to bunch. See...

Country Index
U.S. 5.67
Switzerland 5.62

Denmark 5.55
Sweden 5.54
Germany 5.51
Finland 5.49

Singapore 5.45
Japan 5.43
United Kingdom 5.41
Netherlands 5.40

How significant are those differences. Read the report. Order your copy online or by email. Watch video interviews of the authors. Contact WE's Partner Institutes.