US top of WEF market rating

COMPETITIVENESS: BEATING OFF JAPAN, GERMANY, SINGAPORE AND SWITZERLAND

However, if trade wars continue it will drop lower – WEF.

The US economy sits atop of the World Economic Forum’s annual global competitiveness survey for the first time since the 2007-2009 financial crisis, benefiting from a new ranking methodology this year, the Swiss body said on Tuesday.

In its closely watched annual Global Competitiveness Report, the World Economic Forum (WEF) said the US was the country closest to the “frontier of competitiveness”, an indicator that ranks competitive productivity using a scale from zero to 100.

The US 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” labour market and financial system.

WEF bases its rankings of 140 economies on a dozen drivers of competitiveness, including a country’s institutions and the policies that drive productivity.

This year, 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.

WEF said it was too early to factor in how the Trump administration’s recent trade policies would affect its ranking.

“We expect trade tensions with China and other trading partners to have a negative impact on the US’ competitiveness in the future, should they continue,” Saadia Zahidi, WEF managing director, said. – Reuters