The WEF has released its global competitiveness report for 2008, and Korea fished 13th, down two spots from last year, when it placed 11th.
Korea did particularly well in macro-economic stability, innovation and higher education, while doing poorly in labor market efficiency and financial market sophistication.
You can download Korea’s report (in .pdf) here to examine Korea’s competitive advantages and disadvantages.
Interestingly, despite the financial crisis, the US is still the world’s most competitive economy. From BusinessWeek:
The WEF report says that the U.S. is ranked first in innovation, with its markets allocating resources efficiently to promote and scale innovative activities. The problem today, according to the WEF, lies in bad macro-economic policies that have led to huge financial imbalances—and the current crisis.
Got that? The U.S. is still great at innovation but bad at economic management. This is important to understand as we move forward and create a National Innovation Policy.
Fan favorites Finland finished sixth, and Canada 10th.
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
”The U.S. is still great at innovation” How about innovating alternative energy sources?
The 13th most competitive nation in the world is cracking. Have you seen the won-dollar exchange today?
Finance Minister Kang Man Soo should be fired. He should have been fired months ago. If his policies aren’t responsible for this crash, he’s just plain jinxed. He’s the same dude who was in charge of the finances when the 1997 Financial crisis hit. I really don’t know why Lee is insisting on keeping him on.
Whatever they do, I hope they don’t touch the foreign reserves. As soon as they get released, it’s out of the country and forever gone. … if they can just hang on til next month… Gas and commodity prices are retreating. Coupled with the low Korean won, that should help the export sector. That should alleviate some of the panic.
Does the export sector still exist? Really?! Who’s buying?
As we move deeper into this I reckon we’ll be happy to find that this crisis equals the Great Depression. I fear it’s going to be much worse. Look at all the gov’t, corporate and personal debt…the modern economy is built on it, but when further loans aren’t made the repayment schedule can’t be met. Default. And many more to follow.
I think that Korea has been living on borrowed time for a while. I think that the proverbial chicken is coming home to roost. When you have approx. 2M “kids” sitting at home, because they don’t want to work ( just not the right job for me ), while mommy & daddy hand out the cash, you know this place is really screwed up. When the government forgives credit card debtors, so they can spend some more, it just gets more people into trouble. It’s time to understand, that we can’t all have a Chairman car, and that trying to impress the neighbors isn’t in their own best interest. The work ethic here has really taken a beating – the young crowd seems to think that someone owes them a living. Someone needs to slap ‘em upside their heads. When the economies of the world slow down, and your only an export nation, you’d better start figuring out what you’re going to do. Try thinking ahead – yes I know, that’s not a trait common here.
Innovation in the financial sector is one of the causes of the current crisis.
3.
I definitely agree that we are headed for a much needed recession. However, I will wait until the DJIA hits at least 6000 or 5000 before I start screaming Great Depression. We only recently dropped below the long term trendline;
Off topic………
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eaglenovan, that’s exactly what 10 to 15% of the European “kids” in Western Europe have been doing since the 1970′s, too, isn’t it?
but, it wasn’t mommy and daddy paying them.
it was the government.
Now, what you fools don’t understand about Obama’s fiscal policy, is that, 15% of “kids” will be sitting home, cashing govt checks probably for the good part of their productive adult lives, if there is a welfare state.
this is not intended, but is an inevitable product of the system of social welfare.
it’s been proven by history, much like the Dow Jones 10000 line has been correlate somewhat to how the economy is, by the last 30 years.
i don’t trust anyone who turns on a dime, regarding international trade to one side, and saying the complete opposite in private, and claiming it’s all just a campaign tactic.
and he’s a liberal lawyer, with no interest whatsoever in tort reform.
Which of the various retarded voices in your head are you talking to, idiot child?
Will today’s quarter percent cut in the key exchange rate help?
http://www.usatoday.com/money/world/2008-10-08-soputh-korea-cuts-rates_N.htm?csp=34
uh, fuck you, Linkd?
wjk, things are falling apart. It’s no time for your stupid ideological rants.
Hong Kong and Taiwan also dropped interest rates:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=aoxxL6y1kqIU
Will this help things?
At thispace, Korea will still have plenty of room to move.
curiously enough, EVERYONE in the world, regardless of type of govt, regardless of who is in power, regardless or race, is doing what Bush did to treat the economy from a govt’s standpoint.
1/ cut interest rates.
2/ bail out banks.
#1 is how the US tanked. Originally, this saved the corps after 2000. The consumers got a hold on this, to buy houses they couldn’t afford.
Obama has said Bush fucked up the entire 8 years.
Obama, noticeably has never criticized doing #1, and only recently supported #2.
So, Mr. Obama, besides taxing only and ONLY those making over $250K on their supposed tax returns (like I said, I expect A LOT of people legally filing for $249K and some sort or coporate or LLC mask),
WHAT, WHAT will you do differently?
You’re not going to do
1/ cut interest rates
2/ bail out banks?
Huge talker.
Nothing in his head.
Massive intervention by the K-government today and the exchange rate is better by 15 won. Damn. They are just making things worse in the long run. It’s a complete policy repeat of the 1997 era. They have not learned a thing.
wjk’s signal is breaking up, I’m becoming less able to parse his comments. I think soon he’ll just be rolling his fists on the keyboard.
wjk, we get it, Obama is the reason for the last 8 years. You have me convinced…
Dow sinks below 8600.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/business/10markets.html?hp
Is it a good time to buy Ford and GM, which plunged 22% and 31%?
There are some great opportunities, but I wouldn’t touch either of these two as they have proven themselves over the last 30 years to be just like their products, slowly rusting away.
1/ NO good products
2/ terrible stock structure (Ford)
3/ conservative
4/ can’t carry their debt
These firms have been sucking off the TEAT of the taxpayer and consumer since the 60s, much longer than any Wall Street finance firm.
DOGS.
They may well go up, but they DON’T deserve your attention.
Never heard of ETHICAL investing?
Kerplunk has spoken
GM and Ford have the enormous burden to honor their private social security contracts to their union workers. They’ll never be profitable again, with it, and the workers will never give it up. All autos made south of Missouri don’t have this burden. But, they’re churning out Jap and Gook cars. On American soil.
buy, if you think the govt will bail them out. I think you’ll at least double your money.
govt already bailed out Chrysler.
Germans bailed them out a 2nd time.
both were mistakes, obviously.
But, I’m not sure the US govt will sit back and watch GM and Ford just die.
I’d imagine a foreign company running in the black may buy them, on the condition of not honoring any AFL CIO UAW contracts.
i like Bank of America.
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