http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/u-s-competitiveness-rankings-falls/19626780/

Quote :

"After losing the top spot to Switzerland last year in the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report, the U.S. no longer even ranks among the top three. "

Quote :

"While Switzerland kept its top ranking in this year's report, the U.S. fell two places to fourth position, overtaken by Sweden, which moved up two spots to second place, and Singapore, which remained in third place. Rounding out the top five is Germany, which kept its ranking."

9/9/2010 3:33:28 PM

Yeah, ALL O's fault.......

9/9/2010 3:36:27 PM

We were passed by a Socialist country (Sweden). Good link.

9/9/2010 3:41:39 PM

Quote :

"Yeah, ALL O's fault....... "

If we are puting the "last 8 years" on Bush - isn't it acceptable to put the "last 2" on O?

I mean we were #1 in 2008 right?

9/9/2010 4:09:19 PM

Singapore is serious business. Switzerland surprises me.

9/9/2010 4:15:41 PM

I can't believe we were beaten out by a bunch of countries with socialized healthcare.

9/9/2010 4:21:39 PM

let me add Norrin Radd to my list of people not to take seriously...

9/9/2010 4:42:39 PM

^this

9/9/2010 4:44:43 PM

Dude, if Obama is steering this bobsled towards the bottom, George Bush is the anchor man sitting right behind him.


That being said, it is asinine and pure-t-ignorant to point fingers at the President (any President) as the man to praise or blame for the overall economic state of the nation.

9/9/2010 5:09:07 PM

I guess I don't post enough for you guys to understand when I am using sarcasm to poke fun at a Supplanter style topic.

Take random news article of the day and apply random political connotation of your choice to incite certain flaming and discussion in order to keep topic title fresh in view.

http://brentroad.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=592621

9/9/2010 5:25:18 PM

^Well I guess I'd better take full responsibility for this thread, which I do.

Tdub can you ever forgive me?

9/9/2010 5:32:11 PM

9/9/2010 5:37:25 PM

Quote :

"We were passed by a Socialist country (Sweden)"

If I am not mistaken, in the opinion of those that produce such indexes, the U.S. is more socialist than Sweden. High taxes do not make you socialist, governmental operation of the means of production does.

[Edited on September 9, 2010 at 7:07 PM. Reason : .,.]

9/9/2010 7:07:28 PM

That's only half of it. The "from ability to need" is the other part of it.

9/9/2010 7:22:08 PM

^^ Does anyone actually even listen to you anymore?

9/9/2010 9:08:16 PM

^ perhaps he's finally embraced "economics" as a soft-science.

9/9/2010 9:53:28 PM

This is what the Global Competitiveness Report points to as the most problematic factors for doing business...

Quote :

"Access to financing......................................................14.4 Inefficient government bureaucracy.........................13.3 Tax rates .........................................................................13.2 Tax regulations ..............................................................12.5 Inflation .............................................................................8.0 Inadequately educated workforce...............................6.4 Poor work ethic in national labor force ......................6.3 Policy instability...............................................................6.0 Restrictive labor regulations.........................................5.2 Inadequate supply of infrastructure............................3.3 Corruption.........................................................................2.8 Foreign currency regulations........................................2.5 Crime and theft ................................................................2.2 Government instability/coups .......................................2.2 Poor public health...........................................................1.6"

9/10/2010 10:51:06 AM

Quote :

"That's only half of it. The "from ability to need" is the other part of it."

Charity shifts resources from those with the ability to those in need within an anarchist society, too. I wouldn't call such a society socialist, however. Meanwhile, many socialist societies have been operated for the sole purpose of empowering their elites (see Cuba). As such, I think "from ability to need" should have a different word to describe itself.

[Edited on September 10, 2010 at 12:02 PM. Reason : .,.]

9/10/2010 11:56:55 AM

Quote :

"I guess I don't post enough for you guys to understand when I am using sarcasm to poke fun at a Supplanter style topic. "

Oh. Well. In that case, GG.

9/10/2010 12:44:05 PM

yesterday Obama announced his plan to get us back on track - and you guess it - the answer is... CHANGE! ! !

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2010/09/obama-us-wins-global-economic-race-with-innovative-products/1

Quote :

"And it all starts "in the classroom," Obama told business leaders who have created a new program called Change The Equation, designed to improve science and math achievement over the next decade. "

Quote :

"President Obama said today the United States can't beat global competition through lower wages and cheaper goods, but can prevail by making new and better things to sell -- and the key to that is a better education system. "We're going to win by offering the most innovative products," Obama said in praising a new program to improve math and science education. "We're going to win by doing what we do best, which is harnessing the talents and ingenuity of our people to lead the world in new industries. That's how we can create millions of new jobs exporting more of our goods around the world." "

9/17/2010 3:20:13 PM

Quote :

"President Obama said today the United States can't beat global competition through lower wages and cheaper goods, but can prevail by making new and better things to sell -- and the key to that is a better education system."

What a dumbass.

9/17/2010 3:45:42 PM

^ What's wrong with that statement? We're never going to compete on prices with the Chinas of the world. We need some kind of competitive advantage.

9/17/2010 4:13:50 PM

Problem is that you still have to solve the manufacturing question. We can always design new technologies, but if we can't make it affordable to build locally, then we're going to ultimately fail. Think of the VCR as a good example: American designed, foreign manufactured.

9/17/2010 4:39:03 PM

What manufacturing question? Factoring out the current recession, which is quite substantial, the United States manufacturers more than ever before. The trick is that we are producing so much with an ever smaller workforce.
http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/g17/current/ipg1.gif

[Edited on September 17, 2010 at 4:58 PM. Reason : lnk]

9/17/2010 4:57:29 PM