Grading Global Economic Health

Last month, the World Economic Forum (WEF) published its Global Competitiveness Report. The topics are broad and the questions are varied. Based on Executive Opinion Surveys from 126 economies, the answers are supposed to provide insight about short and long term policies.

However, I thought it was more like a physician doing a global economic health checkup.

Six Facts: Global Economic Health

Focusing first on government, the 95 page report asked about corruption, transparency, and debt. Next, it moved onward to human capital, innovation, and markets. Then, at the end, they conveyed a country by country prognosis.

The following graphics display some of WEF’s conclusions.

 1. A negative for the future, judicial independence slid somewhat:

2. People perceive the least corruption in Switzerland, the Nordic countries, and New Zealand:

3. Somewhat worrisome, debt as a percent of GDP rose everywhere but is especially high in advanced economies:

4. In a section on human capital, the report showed where education was sufficiently preparing people for jobs:

5. Looking at patents, the data showed that innovation was concentrated in just a few countries:

6. For this survey, more competition among more firms meant more of the market:

Our tiny slice of a massive report presents a small picture of all it tries to present. Its final paragraphs emphasize patience. The authors tell readers that we especially need patience for long term investments. Only then can infrastructure, energy, and equity evolve optimally.

Our Bottom Line: The Prognosis

At the end of any physical, we like to know if we are healthy. Recognizing our expectations, the WEF concluded its report with a “transformation readiness” score. The score conveys a ranking for 37 nations. Your rank indicates if you are sufficiently robust to implement key policies.

These are the health assessments. You can see that Denmark, Finland, and Sweden have the highest health grades:

My sources and more: In its 95 pages, the WEF Global Competitiveness Report presents a vast array of facts. However, they do point out that this was a special edition, different from the past, because it displays how best to return to growth. Please note also that all graphs are from the report. Our featured image is from Pixabay.