The U.S. has trumped Hong Kong to retake first place among the world’s most competitive economies, thanks to faster economic growth and deregulation that is promoting innovation.
The Switzerland-based IMD World Competitiveness Center, which conducted the analysis, had Singapore, the Netherlands, and Switzerland rounding out the top 5 spots.
Hong Kong, scoring first in categories for government and business efficiency, held an edge over regional rival Singapore, which kept its No. 3 spot from 2017. Rounding out the top five were the Netherlands, which jumped one spot, and Switzerland, which tumbled three slots as it endures a slowdown in exports and concerns about its potential relocation of research and development facilities.The U.S., which reclaimed the No. 1 spot for the first time since 2015, scored especially well in international investment, domestic economy and scientific infrastructure sub-categories while earning below-average marks in public finance and prices.The renewed top ranking aligns with the positive U.S. growth narrative over the past year. Growth averaged 2.9 percent in the four quarters through March, versus 2 percent in the prior period.
There is even more #WINNING to report: 71% of global chief financial officers believe the American economy is going to remain robust for the next 3 years at least.
Of the 497 CFOs across 30 countries surveyed by Zurich Insurance Group, EY and the Atlantic Council, 71 percent expected continued improvement in the U.S. business environment over the next three years, while 61 percent “felt confident or extremely confident about investing in the U.S.”…A decade after the financial crisis, corporate players cited global economic recovery, domestic tax reform and deregulation as core factors contributing to the strong sentiment gauged in the report, entitled “Borders vs Barriers: Navigating uncertainty in the U.S. business environment.”The respondents came from all industry sectors in foreign and domestic companies, and roughly half had investments in the U.S.”A majority — 68 percent — of CFOs say U.S. tax reform will have a positive impact on their bottom line,” the report said.About half of companies benefiting from tax savings said they would use them to re-invest in plants and equipment, while almost two-thirds of those with U.S. employees said they planned to increase their headcount over the next six months.
Perhaps this explains why the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta is forecasting economic growth will exceed 4% for the current 2nd quarter of 2018.
So, as we wrap-up the first half of 2018 this month, we have ever reason to believe that the American economy will remain MAGA-nificent.
The only people who will be upset by this news are the Democrats and their media minions, who have been wish nothing but disaster for President Trump and his policies since his upset win in 2016. It will be interesting to see if any media outlet will feature the IMD World Competitiveness Center report, the Zurich Insurance Group survey, the Federal Reserve Back of Atlanta’s projections.
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