Comparison of global economies: useful feedback for policymakers

TWICE a year every year for well over two decades, economies around the world get an assessment about where they stand relative to one another on measures from policy efficacy to business efficiency.

And by and large, the results and changes in standing are closely tracked, by all concerned, up and down the league. After all, in the global tussle for investments, it's generally agreed that there is a good correlation between an economy's competitiveness and its international image as a place to do business. Indeed, apparently the rankings matter enough that one regulatory agency of a South Asian economy, unhappy about the steep fall in its rating in the latest World Economic Forum (WEF) global competitiveness report published last week, allegedly pushed to change its results - and has in fact filed a petition with WEF over the matter.

The WEF rankings - and that of Swiss business school IMD's World Competitiveness Centre, released in the middle of the year - usually do not spring major surprises from year to year: The usual suspects fill out the top 10 (Switzerland, the United States, Singapore, Hong Kong, etc) and bottom 10 rungs. But a bit of musical chairs do take place from one year to the next, reflecting sometimes temporary factors such as currency weakness or short-term political turmoil. Trend analysis of an economy's competitiveness track record over five to 10 years would be more indicative of its economic resilience and other strengths and weaknesses, and of how far it has pulled ahead of others, or fallen behind.