Wealth of Nations roundup

Competitiveness is at the heart of living standards and the quality of life, so our previous compilation of blog posts was a European ICT competitiveness roundup.

Here are the last July 2011 additions, which bring more European and global elements to the discussion.

Grahnlaw: European business leaders boost the European Dream (29 July 2011)

Grahnlaw: USA and EU falling behind in innovation and competitiveness (30 July 2011)

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland (in Finnish): USA ja EU: Innovaatiot ja kilpailukyky laahaavat (31 July 2011)

Eurooppaoikeus (in Finnish): Kilpailukyky: Voittajat ja haastajat (31 July 2011). - Something of a synthesis post, this one.

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The Nordic countries are still impressive, but they have to run hard to keep their positions. The Asian tigers make huge progress and some of the new EU member states have caught up spectacularly well.

In the United States, some of the individual states are more competitive than any of the sovereign economies in the world, but is the USA as a whole in decline and without the mentality for proactive public policies to turn the tide?

Many of the members of the European Union and the EU as a whole worry me. Do the member state politicians have what it takes to achieve sustainable public finances and to make the Europe 2020 reform strategy a success story, nationally and as contributors at the EU level?

Smart, sustainable and inclusive growth is a huge challenge, but shouldn't Europeans become interested in the building process, rather than waiting until things have gone wrong and showing their indignation only when already hit by the consequences?



Ralf Grahn



P.S. From Turkey, the land of Orhan Pamuk, the prolific social media activist Erkan Saka sends us one of his regular Euro updates.