Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Do we really care what the World Economic Forum thinks?
According to this morning's Wall Street Journal, The United States has dropped to sixth from first in the World Economic Forum's annual ranking of global economic competitiveness. The WEF citec the United States' budget deficit as a primary concern in the 2006 ranking.
I can't help but think back to 1991-92 when the Japanese were lecturing President George H.W. Bush to reduce the deficit if the U.S. wished to rejoin MITI Japan at the top of the economic heap. At the time, observers were predicting that the Japanese would soon race past the Americans to claim title to the world's strongest economy. Instead, a painful recession took hold in Japan -- a recession that lasted more than ten years. Constant harping about a manageable budget deficit will get you nowhere (the Japanese can attest to that).
I couldn't help but notice that the WSJ also featured a short article in which European Union economic chiefs released tepid growth forecasts and admitted that unemployment is likely to worsen across the continent. Add to this the fact that West European nations are finding it increasingly difficult to fund their generous welfare states, and the U.S. starts to look pretty good.
American workers remain the most productive and resourceful in the world, and the U.S. economy is more flexible than any system the Europeans can conjure up.
Again, do we really care what the World Economic Forum thinks?
I can't help but think back to 1991-92 when the Japanese were lecturing President George H.W. Bush to reduce the deficit if the U.S. wished to rejoin MITI Japan at the top of the economic heap. At the time, observers were predicting that the Japanese would soon race past the Americans to claim title to the world's strongest economy. Instead, a painful recession took hold in Japan -- a recession that lasted more than ten years. Constant harping about a manageable budget deficit will get you nowhere (the Japanese can attest to that).
I couldn't help but notice that the WSJ also featured a short article in which European Union economic chiefs released tepid growth forecasts and admitted that unemployment is likely to worsen across the continent. Add to this the fact that West European nations are finding it increasingly difficult to fund their generous welfare states, and the U.S. starts to look pretty good.
American workers remain the most productive and resourceful in the world, and the U.S. economy is more flexible than any system the Europeans can conjure up.
Again, do we really care what the World Economic Forum thinks?
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Wednesday, September 27, 2006 
