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In
its closely-watched annual Global Competitiveness Report, the
WEF said the U.S. is the country closest to the "frontier of
competitiveness," an indicator that ranks competitive
productivity using a scale from zero to 100.
The U.S. beat off Singapore, Germany, Switzerland and Japan, the
other top four markets, with a score of 85.6 out of 100, the
report said, due to its "vibrant" entrepreneurial culture and
"strong" labor market and financial system.
The World Economic Forum, the same organization that runs the
Davos meeting of global powerbrokers each January, bases its
rankings of 140 economies on a dozen drivers of competitiveness,
including a country's institutions and the policies that help
drive productivity.
This year the WEF changed its methodology to better account for
future readiness for competition, such as a country's idea
generation, entrepreneurial culture, and the number of
businesses that disrupt existing markets.
The last time the U.S. topped the list was 2008.
The WEF said it was too early to factor in how the Trump
administration's recent trade policies would affect its ranking.
"While it is too early for the data to filter through in this
year's report, we would expect trade tensions with China and
other trading partners to have a negative impact on the US’
competitiveness in the future, were they to continue," Saadia
Zahidi, the managing director at the World Economic Forum, said
in an email.
"Open economies are more competitive."
(Reporting by Katanga Johnson; Editing by Michelle Price)
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