Thursday 29th May | 2008 | Ray Martin
Again this year, the United States is first in the rankings of the 2008 IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook, a pioneer in ranking and analyzing how nations compete and manage their path to prosperity,
But will the United States’ run continue? In 1989, Japan seemed firmly in the number one position with the US in third. By 1994, however, the US took over leadership, a position it has held ever since. The downfall of Japan in competitiveness bears some similarities with the present situation. Will the US follow the same path?
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THE TOP 20 IN 2008 (OUT OF 55)
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|
20 YEARS AGO IN 1989!
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|
Score 2008
|
Country
|
Rank 2008
|
Rank 2007
|
|
OECD Countries
|
Rank 1989
|
Score 1989
|
|
100.0
|
USA
|
1
|
1
|
|
Japan
|
1
|
100.0
|
|
99.3
|
Singapore
|
2
|
2
|
|
Switzerland
|
2
|
98.5
|
|
95.0
|
Hong Kong
|
3
|
3
|
|
USA
|
3
|
92.7
|
|
89.7
|
Switzerland
|
4
|
6
|
|
Canada
|
4
|
87.3
|
|
84.4
|
Luxembourg
|
5
|
4
|
|
Germany (FRG)
|
5
|
85.0
|
|
83.9
|
Denmark
|
6
|
5
|
|
Finland
|
6
|
81.5
|
|
83.5
|
Australia
|
7
|
12
|
|
Netherlands
|
7
|
81.2
|
|
82.9
|
Canada
|
8
|
10
|
|
Sweden
|
8
|
80.5
|
|
82.5
|
Sweden
|
9
|
9
|
|
Norway
|
9
|
79.2
|
|
80.5
|
Netherlands
|
10
|
8
|
|
Australia
|
10
|
77.7
|
|
79.5
|
Norway
|
11
|
13
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NON-OECD Countries
|
Rank 1989
|
Score 1989
|
|
77.6
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Ireland
|
12
|
14
|
|
|
77.4
|
Taiwan
|
13
|
18
|
|
Singapore
|
1
|
100.0
|
|
75.0
|
Austria
|
14
|
11
|
|
Hong Kong
|
2
|
91.5
|
|
75.0
|
Finland
|
15
|
17
|
|
Taiwan
|
3
|
90.0
|
|
74.7
|
Germany
|
16
|
16
|
|
S. Korea
|
4
|
75.7
|
|
73.8
|
China Mainland
|
17
|
15
|
|
Malaysia
|
5
|
73.5
|
|
73.4
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New Zealand
|
18
|
19
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Thailand
|
6
|
63.9
|
|
73.2
|
Malaysia
|
19
|
23
|
|
India
|
7
|
55.3
|
|
72.4
|
Israel
|
20
|
21
|
|
Brazil
|
8
|
52.6
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(NB: The Scores are actually indices - 0 to 100 - generated for the unique purpose of constructing charts and graphics)
The rankings for 2008 are not comparable to those of 1989 because nations were then split into industrialized and emerging economies.
Posted at 12:21 pm |
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