The World Economic Forum issued the Global Competitiveness Report 2005-2006, finding that Finland remains the most competitive economy in the world and tops the rankings for the third consecutive year. 'The Nordic countries share a number of characteristics that make them extremely competitive, such as very healthy macroeconomic environments and public institutions that are highly transparent and efficient,' said Augusto Lopez-Claros, Chief Economist and Director of the Forum's Global Competitiveness Programme. However, Europe’s major economies are continuing to lose their competitive edge as Britain, Germany, Spain and France all dropped in the rankings of the latest global competitiveness report.
The report reflects a broad range of factors including a stable macroeconomic environment, the quality of public institutions and the level of technological development. Of the major European economies, Britain's was the most competitive, coming in at 13th place. Germany fell to place 15 place in 2005, Spain at 29, France at 30, and Italy remained at number 47 in the rankings.
This year’s Report contains a number of studies that address different aspects of competitiveness and, more generally, themes which emanate from the World Economic Forum’s deep concern with growth and development. Of particular note are among others Jagdish Bhagwati’s essay on the importance of globalization and openness for economic prosperity, and Kenneth Rogoff’s paper discussing how in today’s world exchange rate competitiveness has become an increasingly subtle and difficult-to-measure phenomenon..
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