Switzerland Replaces US As World's Most Competitive Econ -WEF

根据今年世界经济论坛的调查，瑞士已取代美国成为世界最有竞争力的经济体，原因是美国在金融服务和经济稳定上的得分过低。全球竞争力指数(GCI)由总部设在日内瓦的世界经济论坛每年公布一次。世界经济论坛每年1月还在瑞士达沃斯主办年度企业论坛。2009至2010年度全球竞争力指数的结果显示，美国由于金融市场和财政状况的恶化而丢分，从而在2004年首次推出目前形式的排名以来首次将头把交椅拱手相让。对美国银行业的信心下滑至第108位，排在坦桑尼亚之后，而预算赤字已飙升至1万亿美元之上，导致经济稳定性的排名从66位下降到93位。在美国出现从二战以来最为严重的经济衰退中复苏的迹象之际，竞争力的丧失可能成为这个全球最大经济体快速复苏的另一个障碍。经济学家说，美国在生产率和劳动力市场灵活性方面得分较高，但他们也强调金融危机加剧了现有的经济失衡。世界经济论坛高级经济学家布兰克(Jennifer Blanke)说，尤其是我们已经看到了金融市场质量的转弱……经济危机加剧了逐步积累起来的这些失衡问题。瑞士经济因稳定和不断创新而受到了赞扬，尽管对其银行的信任度下滑到了第44位。GCI的排名基于各种指标，不但包括经济数据，也包括卫生统计和与互联网用户数量有关的数据等。这项研究也涵盖了对企业领导人的调查，比如评估了政府的工作效率或劳动力市场的灵活性。今年的GCI再次将瑞典丹麦和芬兰列到前六位最具竞争力的经济体之列，赞扬了它们的机构和财政纪律的效率。英国经济继续下滑，由于金融市场恶化而下跌了一位，至第12位。报告显示，尽管出现了危机，但中国印度和巴西等新兴市场大国的竞争力在133个国家中都出现了上升。但这份报告称，由于对政府效率和司法独立性的担忧加剧，俄罗斯的排名大幅下滑了12位，至第63位。Joe Parkinson相关阅读英国与瑞士签署税收信息互换协议 2009-09-07中国银行为旗下瑞士基金募资 2009-09-04瑞士政府出售瑞银股份，获利12亿瑞士法郎 2009-08-21瑞士银行将交出4,450个美国客户身份信息 2009-08-20


Switzerland has moved up to replace the U.S. as the world's most competitive economy because of poor U.S. marks in financial services and economic stability, according to this year's survey by the World Economic Forum.The Global Competitiveness Index, or GCI, is produced annually by the Geneva-based think tank, which hosts the annual business forum in Davos, Switzerland every January.The GCI's headline findings for 2009-10 showed the U.S. lost marks for the deterioration of its financial markets and its worsening fiscal position, pushing it out of the top spot for the first time since the introduction of the index in its current form in 2004.Trust in U.S. banks fell to 108th position - just behind Tanzania - while a soaring budget deficit now topping $1 trillion, pushed its ranking for economic stability to 93rd from 66th.That loss of competitiveness could prove another obstacle to a speedy recovery as the world's largest economy shows signs of emerging from its deepest recession since the Second World War.Economists said the U.S. still won marks for productivity and a flexible labor market, but stressed the financial crisis had magnified existing economic imbalances.'In particular we've seen a weakening of the quality of its financial markets... These are imbalances that have been building up over time which have been exacerbated by the economic crisis,' said Jennifer Blanke, senior economist at the World Economic Forum.The Swiss economy was praised for its stability and continual innovation, despite a loss of trust in its banks, which slipped to 44th position.The GCI bases its rankings on a range of measures, including economic data but also health statistics and figures pertaining to the number of Internet users.The study also factors in a survey among business leaders, assessing, for example, the government's efficiency or the flexibility of the labor market.This year's index again ranked Sweden, Denmark and Finland inside the top six most competitive economies, praising the efficiency of their institutions and fiscal discipline. The U.K. economy continued its slide, falling one place to 12th as its financial markets deteriorated.Leading emerging markets China, India and Brazil improved their competitiveness among the 133 countries, despite the crisis, the report showed.But Russia declined sharply, falling back 12 places to 63, as worries about government efficiency and judicial independence rose, the report said. Joe Parkinson