We're Losing to the Swiss?

Michael C. Moynihan | September 9, 2009

I don't like this trend:

The US government's sweeping intervention in the private sector has taken its toll on the country's competitiveness, according to an annual survey by the World Economic Forum.

The country lost its number one spot to Switzerland in the WEF report on global competitiveness, partly because of "particular concerns on the part of the business community about the government's ability to maintain arm's-length relationships with the private sector and in the perception that the government spends its resources wastefully".

Barack Obama, US president, has continued and deepened the government's involvement in private industry that was started by his predecessor, George W. Bush, as a response to the financial crisis, with bail-outs of the automotive and banking sectors.

The WEF stresses that the US remains a considerable competitive force at number two in the rankings with excellent universities and a flexible labour market.

A few years back, I wondered if Switzerland was Europe's secret "heart of darkness."

Comments

Hugh Akston|9.9.09 @ 10:35AM|#

Barack Obama, US president, has continued and deepened the government's involvement in private industry that was started by his predecessor, George W. Bush, as a response to the financial crisis, with bail-outs of the automotive and banking sectors.

Check your facts, Financial Times. Bush spent eight years deregulating, eliminating essential public services, and lowering taxes on the wealthy. Also, personally dumping arsenic into the water supply. None of these facts are in dispute.

affenkopf|9.9.09 @ 10:36AM|#

I'm suprised you guys are still number 2. The rest of the world must really suck.

|9.9.09 @ 10:40AM|#

That's exactly right--this isn't something that's all the Democrats' fault. Bush and the GOP Congress did their own part to help, and past iterations of both parties have been treading down this statist path for some time now. How much throttling can the Golden Goose take before it stops laying eggs? Let's not find out, okay?

Barney Rubble|9.9.09 @ 10:44AM|#

He personally dumped arsenic in the water supply? When and where?

What "essential" public services did he eliminate?

|9.9.09 @ 10:47AM|#

Barney, check your irony detector.

Barney Rubble|9.9.09 @ 10:50AM|#

RC Dean-

Thank you. I think SugarFree got into my room again and messed with the settings.

Rimfax|9.9.09 @ 10:56AM|#

According to Kopel's "The Samurai, the Mountie, and the Cowboy", Switzerland and Japan have considerable cultural similarities, from a social pressure standpoint.

Slap the Enlightened!|9.9.09 @ 11:02AM|#

You mean, despite being considerably more restrictive of immigration than the US and the rest of Europe, Switzerland still has a more competitive economy than either of them?

But... but... that's not right! You can't have a free market without a free market in labor... or something.....

|9.9.09 @ 11:04AM|#

The rest of the world must really suck.

Don't you know? That's our new motto.

"America, nor really that great, just doesn't suck as bad as the rest of the world."

Xeones|9.9.09 @ 11:14AM|#

Goddamn chocolate-snarfing clockfuckers.

Slap the Enlightened!|9.9.09 @ 11:39AM|#

Help me, people! I'm fucking grasping at straws here!

|9.9.09 @ 11:40AM|#

I think SugarFree got into my room again and messed with the settings.

But Warty did that to your toothbrush. That ain't my bag, man.

</a|9.9.09 @ 11:56AM|#

You do have to give libertarians credit for consistency - and stupidity. In each in every case, whenever libertarian principals are shown to be at odds with the actual practices demonstrated to create free, peaceful and prosperous societies, which one do they declare illegitimate? Why, the free, peaceful and prosperous society, of course!

|9.9.09 @ 12:44PM|#

One nation has a population of 300 million and a GDP of 14 trillion plus. The other has a population of 8 million and a GDP of less than half a trillion bucks. Social and cultural differences are probably just as disparate as those numbers.
Any comparison between those nations is as full of holes as a good Emmenthaler.

LarryA|9.9.09 @ 12:49PM|#

In each in every case, whenever libertarian principals are shown to be at odds with the actual practices demonstrated to create free, peaceful and prosperous societies, which one do they declare illegitimate? Why, the free, peaceful and prosperous society, of course!

Your argument would be more persuasive if government intervention in the economy ever, long term, actually resulted in a "free, peaceful and prosperous society."

Barney Rubble|9.9.09 @ 12:54PM|#

Barney: Of course! We are one big, happy fleet! Ah, Warty, my old friend, do you know the Klingon proverb that tells us revenge is a dish that is best served cold?
[pause]
Barney: It is very cold in space!

<a/|9.9.09 @ 12:57PM|#

Your argument would be more persuasive if government intervention in the economy ever, long term, actually resulted in a "free, peaceful and prosperous society."

And yours would be more persuasive if you ever managed to establish any kind of society at all, period.

zoltan|9.9.09 @ 1:10PM|#

What's their health care system like?

robc|9.9.09 @ 1:20PM|#

Switzerland was once my "safety country". But I dont have the connections I used to have (I lived and worked in Switzerland in the early 90s).

robc|9.9.09 @ 1:23PM|#

What's their health care system like?

I went to the small town doctor near where I lived to remove some stitches from a surgery shortly before I moved to Switzerland. He removed them. The scar got infected. The bill seemed pricy but was reasonable, I guess.

I dont think that answered your question at all, but it is my experience with the Swiss health care system, circa 1991.

Sean W. Malone|9.9.09 @ 1:26PM|#

"And yours would be more persuasive if you ever managed to establish any kind of society at all, period."

Huh?

Society is something that develops spontaneously whenever a group of people are around... I'm a little perplexed, since it's not something that needs to be created or "established" by anyone at all. We've been doing it for what, 100,000 years now... Most of that time with no formal government and certainly no organization beyond 150 people or so.

Craig|9.9.09 @ 2:09PM|#

...has continued and deepened the government's involvement in private industry...

i.e., fascism

EJM|9.9.09 @ 2:30PM|#

Just in case (partially because the FT site appears to be down), the official WEF press release is here, and the full list of rankings is on the WEF site in both PDF and Excel.

Francis|9.9.09 @ 4:48PM|#

Thank you, EJM;

In fact, browsing the WEF site, one can find that it is not the first time Switzerland is first (it was in 2006-2007), as it seems to be unstable at the top.

Now, what is competitivity? It is a useful measure for comparing enterprises in an industry, but for countries, it has no specific meaning - it is not an concept in economics. What WEF defines as competitivity is just a bunch of metrics bundled together. Fun, but not very meaningful.