![]() The June 8, 2011 file photo shows a woman changing Swiss francs to Euro at a counter in Kreuzlingen, Switzerland. |
The US has tumbled further down a global ranking of the world's most competitive economies, landing at fifth place because of its huge deficits and declining public faith in government, a global economic group said Wednesday. The announcement by the World Economic Forum was the latest bad news for the Obama administration, which has been struggling to boost the sinking US economy and lower an unemployment rate of more than 9 percent. Switzerland held onto the top spot for the third consecutive year in the annual ranking by the Geneva-based forum, which is best known for its exclusive meeting of luminaries in Davos, Switzerland, each January. Singapore moved up to second place, bumping Sweden down to third. Finland moved up to fourth place, from seventh last year. The US was in fourth place last year, after falling from No. 1 in 2008. The rankings, which the forum has issued for more than three decades, are based on economic data and a survey of 15,000 business executives. The forum praised the US for its productivity, highly sophisticated and innovative companies, excellent universities and flexible labor market. But it also cited "a number of escalating weaknesses" such as rising government debt and declining public faith in political leaders and corporate ethics. The results of a survey of 142 nations comes a day before Obama is preparing to tackle jobs issues in a speech to the US Congress, and just as US polls show a clear majority of those surveyed say they disapprove of the way Obama is handling the economy. Switzerland held onto its top ranking, the forum said, because of "continuing strong performance across the board" with innovation, technological readiness, even-handed regulation and having one of the world's most stable economic environments. Germany, Europe's economic powerhouse, was sixth, followed by the Netherlands and Denmark. Japan came in ninth, and Britain was 10th. France was 18th, and Greece, saddled with debt, fell to 90th. The report looked at broader trends: While the US slipped, emerging markets gained traction. China took 26th place, highest among major emerging economies; Brazil was 53rd; India was 56th; and Russia was 66th. (Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
一個(gè)全球經(jīng)濟(jì)組織周三稱,在一項(xiàng)世界經(jīng)濟(jì)體的全球競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力排行中,美國(guó)因?yàn)榫揞~赤字和公眾對(duì)政府信心的日益缺失,競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力排名進(jìn)一步下滑,降至第五位。 對(duì)于奧巴馬政府而言,世界經(jīng)濟(jì)論壇宣布的這一排名是最新的壞消息。奧巴馬政府一直在努力地試圖振興衰退的美國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì),降低失業(yè)率,美國(guó)失業(yè)率已超過(guò)9%。 世界經(jīng)濟(jì)論壇公布的年度排名中,瑞士連續(xù)第三年位居榜首。世界經(jīng)濟(jì)論壇,總部設(shè)在日內(nèi)瓦,以其每年一月在瑞士達(dá)沃斯舉行的精英專場(chǎng)會(huì)議著稱。 新加坡升至第二名,將瑞典擠到第三。芬蘭從去年的第七名升至第四名。美國(guó)2008年排在第一,自那以后就開(kāi)始下滑,去年排在第四。 世界經(jīng)濟(jì)論壇發(fā)布這一排行已有三十多年歷史。該排行基于經(jīng)濟(jì)數(shù)據(jù)和對(duì)1.5萬(wàn)商業(yè)主管的調(diào)查。 論壇稱贊了美國(guó)的生產(chǎn)力、具有尖端品質(zhì)和創(chuàng)新力的公司、杰出的大學(xué)和有彈性的勞動(dòng)力市場(chǎng)。不過(guò)它也指出“許多逐步升級(jí)的弱點(diǎn)”,例如政府債務(wù)攀升、政治領(lǐng)袖和企業(yè)倫理的公眾信念降低。 這項(xiàng)涵蓋142個(gè)國(guó)家的調(diào)查就在奧巴馬準(zhǔn)備發(fā)表國(guó)會(huì)演講、著手解決就業(yè)問(wèn)題的前一天發(fā)布。美國(guó)民意調(diào)查顯示,絕大部分受訪者稱他們不認(rèn)同奧巴馬處理經(jīng)濟(jì)問(wèn)題的方式。 論壇說(shuō),瑞士能維持榜首的位置是因?yàn)椤霸诟鞣矫娉掷m(xù)強(qiáng)勁的表現(xiàn)”,瑞士在創(chuàng)新水平、技術(shù)就緒水平、公平條例等方面都表現(xiàn)出色,而且是全世界最穩(wěn)定的經(jīng)濟(jì)環(huán)境之一。 “歐洲的經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)電站”德國(guó)排在第六位,其后是荷蘭和丹麥。日本排在第九,英國(guó)排第十。法國(guó)是第18名,負(fù)債累累的希臘降到了第90名。 這一報(bào)告還觀察了更大范圍內(nèi)的趨勢(shì):在美國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)下滑的同時(shí),新興市場(chǎng)則發(fā)展態(tài)勢(shì)良好。中國(guó)位居第26名,是新興經(jīng)濟(jì)體中排名最高的,巴西排在第53位,印度第56位,俄羅斯第66位。 相關(guān)閱讀 聯(lián)合國(guó):挪威生活品質(zhì)稱冠全球 全球大學(xué)新排名 中國(guó)大學(xué)名次上升 英國(guó)獲評(píng)歐洲生活質(zhì)量最差國(guó)家 年度全球競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力報(bào)告出爐 中國(guó)排名列54位 (中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津 陳丹妮 編輯:馮明惠) |
Vocabulary: tumble: 墜落 exclusive: 限制嚴(yán)格的 luminary: 杰出人物;才智出眾的人 escalating: 逐步上升(增強(qiáng)或擴(kuò)大)的,逐步升級(jí)的 hold onto: 抓緊,保住 across the board: 全面的 even-handed: 公平的 powerhouse: 發(fā)電所;動(dòng)力室 gain traction: 發(fā)展得越來(lái)越好,越來(lái)越受歡迎 |