US economy is tops

As the US economy steams ahead, it leads the competitiveness league

The United States is rated the world's most competitive nation, pushing Singapore into second place.

A 333-page report, compiled by Harvard Univesity professors Jeffrey Sachs, Michael Porter and Andrew Warner, together with the World Economic Forum, tries to identify countries with high growth prospects.

The top ten

1. United States

2. Singapore

3. Luxembourg

4. Netherlands

5. Ireland

6. Finland

7. Canada

8. Hong Kong

9. United Kingdom

10. Switzerland

Singapore had topped the survey for four consecutive years, since it was first published.

During that time the US economy managed to move up a place very year, until reaching the top spot this year.

Hong Kong, which once held a subscription on the number two spot, has now dropped to the eight place.

Other countries in the top ten are Luxembourg (3), Ireland (5) and the UK (9)

The bottom ten

50. El Salvador

51. Bolivia

52. Colombia

53. Vietnam

54. Venezuela

55. Russia

56. Zimbabwe

57. Ukraine

58. Bulgaria

59. Ecuador

Out of 59 countries surveyed, economic heavyweight Germany moves up 10 places to 15th; France weighs in at 22, while South Korea drops seven places to 29.

The bottom of the list has few surprises.

Ecuador is rated the least competitive country, with Russia, Zimbabwe, Ukraine and Bulgaria making up the rest of the bottom five.

The rankings are based on statistics compiled by the International Monetary Fund, the Bank for International Settlements, surveys of business leaders and other data.

Critics say that the criteria are arbitrary, and say little about the true prospects of an economy.

A rival survey produced by the International Institute for Management Development tends to come to radically different results, although this time round both reports award the top two places to the same countries.

The institute, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, polls more than 3,000 executives.

Until 1995 both the World Economic Forum and the Lausanne institute produced a joint report, but they parted ways in a dispute over research methods.