The country owes its strong showing to one of the most innovative business environments in the world, particularly critical to driving productivity in the country, given its advanced stage of development. This is coupled with a very healthy macroeconomic environment, at a time when many other industrial countries are struggling in this area.
One of the most innovative business environments in the world? Hot damn - must be the golld ole U.S. of A., right?
Wrong!
More on the flip.
The willingness of Finnish governments to run budget surpluses, so as to be able to meet future social commitments linked to the aging of the population is particularly impressive.This approach to macroeconomic policy highlights a degree of political maturity in Finnish society worthy of emulation. Furthermore, Finland has an institutional environment that is among the world's finest: the business community operates in a climate of respect for the law, unusually low levels of corruption, and an openness and transparency which other countries would do well to study.
Oh snap! Finland? You mean the country with all the reindeer herders, cute cell phones, tasteful, understated design and people who are afraid to hug? Yup.
So who is it that is calling Finland the most competitive country in the world? Must be one of those left-wing publications like Mother Jones or The Nation right?
Well, if you guessed MJ, The Nation, American Prospect, The Village Voice or any other left-of-the-dial publication, you'd be wrong. The answer: the World Economic Forum
That's right, that hyper-elite group of the world's most powerful financiers, industrialists, central banks, and other captains of capitalism. You know, those guys who meet every year at Davos, Switzerland to engage in a Vulcan mindmeld of econometric modeling. Every year, the WEC publishes its Global Competitiveness Report ranking the world's countries in terms of economic competitiveness based on various factors.
In the 2005-2006 Report, the WEC ranks Finland as the #1 Most Competitive Nation, as it has for several years now. Pulling in at #2, is the United States, which although a hotbed of technological innnovation, has a few...problems:
The United States is ranked second, its strong performance attributable to its continuing technological supremacy, and a pipeline of innovation second to none in the world. The US has companies that are aggressive in adopting new technologies, and spend heavily on research and development. However, the country's technological prowess is offset by its significantly weaker performance in other areas measured by the index, in particular aspects of the macroeconomic environment. This is not surprising in the context of intensifying international concern regarding macroeconomic imbalances in the country, especially in the area of the public finances.
Damn! You mean bankrupting the country's treasury while leaving millions high and dry without health insurance, retirement pensions or access to a decent education might, you know, drag down a nation's economy? slaps forehead Who knew?
But we already knew that. What is interesting is the money shot, a sort of thumb in the eye of all those conservatives who rail that the European social model is "unsustainable" or that high unemployment in France, for example, is an indictment of the whole system. Here's what those crazy capitalists at Davos have to say about those free-spendin' Vikings:
As has been the case in recent years, the other Nordic countries continue to do very well in the competitiveness rankings. After Finland and the United States, Sweden and Denmark take the next two places in the ranking at 3rd and 4th places, respectively. Iceland and Norway follow closely behind, still among the top ten, at 7th and 9th places, respectively.These countries share a number of characteristics that make them extremely competitive, including very healthy macroeconomic environments and public institutions that are highly transparent and efficient. There is no evidence that relatively high tax rates are preventing these countries from competing effectively in world markets, or from deliivering to their respective populations some of the highest standards of living in the world.
No evidence? Buh, buh, buh how can that be? I thought all that social welfare meant nobody had jobs and everyone had to buy the same brand of toothpaste. You know, like those Communists in the days of the Soviet Union? How can this be?
I don't know. How can this be?
[UPDATE: I forgot to add, Sweden is #3, Denmark #4, Iceland #7, Switzerland #8, and Norway #9. That, friends, is what we call a pattern.]