Although our global stature has declined precipitously under Bush, Americans like to take comfort in the country’s reputation as the seat of capitalism and the strongest economy in the world.
That myth was debunked this week by the World Economic Forum, which dropped the rank of US economic competitiveness from #1 to #6.
Among the factors cited were the “disappointing response to Hurricane Katrina” and “government corruption”.
The World Economic Forum rankings are based on the opinions of over 11,000 business leaders in 125 countries. Seems like the Republican predilection for favoring the rich and powerful doesn’t hold much sway with the rich and powerful outside our own borders.
By the way, the ranking for the top five is:
Switzerland
Finland
Sweden
Denmark
Singapore
So much for the right wing nay-sayers who occasionally trash the Scandinavian economies, foist “No Child Left Behind” on kids not wealthy enough to attend private school, and cram religious dogma down our throats in lieu of hard science.
Least thee think I’m over-reacting, consider this, from Augusto Lopez-Claros, the Director and Chief Economist of the Global Competitive Network:
“The top rankings of Switzerland and the Nordic countries show that good institutions and competent macroeconomic management, coupled with world-class educational attainment and a focus on technology and innovation, are a successful strategy for boosting competitiveness in an increasingly complex global economy.”
It’ll be interesting to see if the Democrats hammer on yet one more objective example of how the “culture of corruption” and the Christian evangelicals’ hold on the Repugnican party hurts jobs and the middle class.
If they don’t, they are morons.