Dissed By The Swiss

I don’t know if you’ve heard the news or not, but according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index, the United States fell from first to sixth place.

Oh, joy.

Were we replaced by India? China? Russia? Burkina Faso? (yes, there is a country by that name).

No. We were done in by (of all people)…The SWISS!

While we were drinking their hot chocolate and keeping time by their watches, it looks like Friedrich and Helga hitched up their lederhosen and decided to give this country a butt-whoopin’.

As this article explains…

“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. Business activity in these countries benefits from a well-developed institutional framework, characterized by the rule of law, an efficient judicial system and high levels of transparency and accountability within public institutions. Excellent infrastructure is an additional positive feature of the business environment.

Our indicators point to the rapidly growing importance of higher education and training as engines of productivity growth. Countries that, like the Nordics, are investing heavily in education are likely to see rising levels of income per capita, growing success in reducing poverty and an increasing ability to establish a presence in the global economy,” said Augusto Lopez-Claros, Chief Economist and Director of the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Network.

As for us…

The United States, previously in first place, continues to enjoy an excellent business environment, efficient markets and is a global centre for technology development. However, its overall competitiveness is threatened by large macroeconomic imbalances, particularly rising levels of public indebtedness associated with repeated fiscal deficits. Its relative ranking remains vulnerable to a possible disorderly adjustment of such imbalances, including historically high trade deficits.

And I would say that this excerpt from this story partly explains why.

A proposal to renew the now-expired research-and-development tax credit, the keystone of (Bush’s “Competitiveness Agenda”), was blocked from the tax-cut package that Republican leaders sent to the White House a few weeks ago. Instead, they promised the provision would be folded into a "trailer" bill later in the year. A plan to allow more highly skilled foreign workers into the country is in limbo, part of the deadlock over immigration. And with fiscal conservatives demanding curbs on spending, the outlook for proposals to increase spending on basic science research as well as math and science education is unclear.

And that was from the Wall Street Journal, a notoriously Repug-friendly publication.

Just remember what the Clinton Administration handed Bush and this bunch in Congress (a legacy of government funding of technical innovation along with fiscal responsibility), and then consider what they did with it.