World
U.S. Climbs to Third in Ranking of World’s Most Competitive Economies
U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference with Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves at the Bank of Estonia in Tallinn, Estonia, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2014. Obama is in Estonia for a one day visit where he will meet with Baltic State leaders before heading to the NATO Summit in Wales. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
(Los Angeles Times) – The United States climbed to third in a leading ranking of the world’s most competitive economies, rising for the second straight year because of more positive views of the nation’s business climate, innovation capacity and strength of public and private institutions.
The U.S. trailed only Switzerland and Singapore in the annual survey by the World Economic Forum. Rounding out the top 10 were Finland, Germany, Japan, the Hong Kong region of China, the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Sweden.
The results were released Wednesday by the forum, which hosts a high-profile gathering of corporate chieftains and politicians each winter in Davos, Switzerland.
Competitiveness is based on a dozen factors, including the strength of a nation’s public and private institutions, the state of its infrastructure, the quality of its education and its ability to foster innovation.
