Quotes of the Day

Monday, Oct. 18, 2004

Open quoteJapan is ascendant again, but China is wobbly. That's the surprising assessment of the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report 2004-2005, which ranks 104 economies on whether they have what it takes to keep growing. Japan, which placed 21st in 2001, has muscled its way back into the top 10 on the strength of renewed confidence and improved public-sector transparency. But China has fallen to 46th place, behind Latvia and Botswana. "The message to China is you've grown really well," says WEF senior economist Jennifer Blanke, "but if you want to continue to grow, you have to improve your institutions, cut down on corruption, improve property rights and ensure your work force is extremely educated." Even in an epochal boom, China hasn't fully secured its status as an economic superpower.

WEF Rankings 2004
2004 2003 Economy Description
1 1 Finland Strong planning
2 2 U.S. Tech supremacy
3 3 Sweden Squeaky clean
4 5 Taiwan Strong innovator
7 6 Singapore Superefficient
9 11 Japan Top in R. and D.
21 24 Hong Kong Good institutions
29 18 South Korea Recession fear
31 29 Malaysia Deficit problem
34 32 Thailand Lagging in tech
46 44 China Growing pains
55 56 India Budget woes
69 72 Indonesia Organized crime
73 68 Sri Lanka High inflation
76 66 Philippines Tax issues
77 60 Vietnam Low tech
91 73 Pakistan Poor credit rating
102 98 Bangladesh Worst corruption
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  • Austin Ramzy
  • Grading the world's competitiveness
| Source: Grading the world's competitiveness