US is already at the top and challengers won’t challenge for primacy

The United States is the most globally competitive nation in the world for the first time since the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, according to a new report. Singapore, Germany, Switzerland, and Japan rounded out the top five. The latest Global Competitiveness Report, conducted by the World Economic Forum, uses a new methodology that aims to better account for the effects of the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution. WEF, as it’s known, credits three things for U.S. supremacy among 140 economies: market size, innovation ecosystem (including idea generation, entrepreneurial culture, openness, and agility), and stability. The study measured each nation using 98 indicators. “These developments—the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the consequences of the Great Recession—are redefining the pathways to prosperity and, indeed, the very notion of prosperity, with profound implications for policy-making,” wrote WEF founder and executive chairman Klaus Schwab in the report’s preface. “Concerned leaders are grappling for answers and solutions, aiming to go beyond short-term, reactionary measures.” It’s not all sunshine for the U.S., though. According to WEF, there are indications of a weakening social fabric in the States—the nation scored 63.3 out of 100, down from 65.5—and worsening security thanks to a homicide rate that’s five times the average of other advanced economies. What’s more, the U.S. was just 40th place for checks and balances (score: 76.3 out of 100), 15th for judicial independence (79.1 out of 100), and 16th for corruption (75 out of 100). But the American innovation economy is strong. “Once the preserve of the most advanced economies, innovation has become an imperative for all advanced economies and a priority for a growing number of emerging countries. And yet the vast majority of them are struggling to make innovation a meaningful engine of growth,” the report’s authors write. “The results show that there are only a few innovation powerhouses in the world, including Germany, the United States and Switzerland.”