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02-16-2011, 04:26 PM   #1
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Yay! We're #3!

Passed by Sweden.

Sweden overtakes the US in competitiveness

Perhaps capitalist socialism is the way to go.
They have more blonds too.

02-16-2011, 05:23 PM   #2
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Finns, and I believe Norwegians, have a slightly different view (LOL: stereotyping widely here, and being non PC) of Swedes: those haughty imperialists who never had an invading army on their land... etc etc. And who beat us, invariably when the chance comes, for the Gold Medal in hockey

p.s. in Scandinavia, the hot things isn't blonds, it's the raven haired beauties...
02-16-2011, 07:03 PM   #3
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Ooooops. Sorry
Looking a bit deeper we are actually #4.
That's where this current turmoil we're suffering from will get us.
Straight to the bottom.

I'll bet they don't teach the Fred Flintstone version of evolution.

PS. The blond comment was a joke. (Lame...I know)

I haven't seen one country in the world that doesn't have beautiful women in it.
02-16-2011, 07:25 PM   #4
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But we're still the big kahuna in defense spending. The Swedes have a long way to go but they're working on it.

Sweden's Defence Spending Seen Growing to $5.4bn by 2015
25 January 2011 - Sweden's defence expenditure is expected to grow to $5.4 billion by 2015, according to a new report, which forecasts that the country's defence spending will show a compound annual growth rate of 0.36 percent over the next four years.

Sweden's defence spending, estimated at $5.3 billion in 2010, declined last year, but the report predicts that expenditure will rise going forward, in part due to Sweden's strained relationship with Russia and the country's participation in international peacekeeping missions.

The country spent an average of 1.4 percent of its GDP towards defense expenditure during the review period. However, military spending as a percentage of GDP is expected to come down to an average of 1.1 percent during the forecast period as the annual GDP growth rate is higher than the defense budget growth rate of the country.



02-17-2011, 03:00 AM   #5
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Surprised? I'm not. Sweden, along with the rest of the Scandinavian countries also lead the US and most of the rest of the world in quality of life and happiness with life indexes according to almost any legitimate poll and study conducted for years.

Coincidence?

Jason
02-17-2011, 04:25 AM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by Jasvox Quote
Coincidence?
They got universal health care for example..housing is cheap and you got plenty of help if you ain't got the money...unemployment funds, or pays are pretty high...no wonder they got that quality of life.

QuoteOriginally posted by larryinlc Quote
But we're still the big kahuna in defense spending. The Swedes have a long way to go but they're working on it
The USA should stop funding the industrial/military sector and start building some wellfare state institutions if it wants to stop being one of the devellopped countrys with most inequality ( some times i wonder how they dare to spend so much in "defense" when it's the damn leader of child poverty in the devellopped nations).
02-17-2011, 06:39 AM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by Nesster Quote
Finns, and I believe Norwegians, have a slightly different view (LOL: stereotyping widely here, and being non PC) of Swedes: those haughty imperialists who never had an invading army on their land... etc etc. And who beat us, invariably when the chance comes, for the Gold Medal in hockey
All I remember is a joke I read in National Geographic:

Two Danes, two Norwegians, two Finns and two Swedes were stranded on a desert island. When they were rescued a month later, the Danes had formed a co-op, the Norwegians had built a fishing boat, and the Finns had chopped down all the trees. The Swedes hadn't done anything because they hadn't been introduced yet.

No offence to Scandinavians, but I do find jokes likes these fascinating.

02-17-2011, 04:28 PM   #8
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Sweden should be proud of this.
What I find amazing is that none of our resident right wingers have an explanation.
02-17-2011, 10:07 PM   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by shooz Quote
Sweden should be proud of this.
What I find amazing is that none of our resident right wingers have an explanation.
no buzz words.. Rush and Limburger have no comments, Faux ignores it, lamesteam media is embarrassed.... ect.........
QuoteQuote:
Sweden benefits from the world’s most transparent and efficient public institutions, with very low levels of corruption and undue influence and a government that is considered to be one of the most efficient in the world, the report stated.

Private institutions also receive excellent marks, with firms that demonstrate the utmost ethical behavior (ranked 1st), strong auditing and reporting standards, and well-functioning corporate boards. Goods and financial markets are also very efficient.

“Combined with a strong focus on education over the years (ranked 2nd for higher education and training) and the world’s strongest technological adoption (ranked 1st in the technological readiness pillar), Sweden has developed a very sophisticated business culture (2nd) and is one of the world’s leading innovators (ranked 5th)", the the World Economic Forum said in the report.

“These characteristics come together to make Sweden one of the most productive and competitive economies in the world”.

The most knotty factors for doing business in Sweden was restrictive labor regulations, high tax rates and messy tax regulations. The organization also pointed out poor access to financing as an off-putting factor.

The Nordic countries continue to be well positioned in the ranking, with Sweden, Finland (7th) and Denmark (9th) among the top 10, and with Norway at 14th.

The United Kingdom, after falling in the rankings over recent years, moves back up by one place to 12th position. Germany came in at number five, followed by Japan.
also:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-15/riksbank-raises-rate-to-1-5-signals...ightening.html
We have to do evrything the "American way" slash and burn, pain and suffering.......
NOT TOO MANY #1's...
Were #1 in "extent of marketing", "university-industry collaboration" , "gdp" and domestic market size
One that sticks out:
64th in "regulation of security exchanges"
Knock yourself out......... 516 pages of were not #1, we could be BUT were not............
http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GlobalCompetitivenessReport_2010-11.pdf
One more fun one........
To what extent do government officials in your country show favoritism to well-connected firms and individuals when deciding upon policies and
contracts? [1 = always show favoritism; 7 = never show favoritism] | 2009–10 weighted average
#55 (#1 being the closest to 7)United States.........................3.3
1st pillar: Institutions
1.01 Property rights.........................................................................40
1.02 Intellectual property protection ...............................................24
1.03 Diversion of public funds.........................................................34
1.04 Public trust of politicians .........................................................54
1.05 Irregular payments and bribes.................................................40
1.06 Judicial independence .............................................................35
1.07 Favoritism in decisions of government officials ......................55
1.08 Wastefulness of government spending ..................................68
1.09 Burden of government regulation ...........................................49
1.10 Efficiency of legal framework in settling disputes ..................33
1.11 Efficiency of legal framework in challenging regulations ........35
1.12 Transparency of government policymaking.............................41
1.13 Business costs of terrorism ..................................................125
1.14 Business costs of crime and violence.....................................84
1.15 Organized crime ......................................................................86
1.16 Reliability of police services ....................................................26
1.17 Ethical behavior of firms..........................................................30
1.18 Strength of auditing and reporting standards..........................55
1.19 Efficacy of corporate boards ...................................................28
1.20 Protection of minority shareholders’ interests ........................40
1.21 Strength of investor protection* ...............................................5
It's not what the gov spend but how you spend it.....

Last edited by jeffkrol; 02-17-2011 at 10:41 PM.
02-17-2011, 11:01 PM   #10
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Hmmmmm
#1 in extent of marketing.
Funny, everyone I ask says it doesn't work on them.
Now that's effective marketing.
Because it does work on them.
The best marketing is pretty much invisible.

Multi pronged marketing/PR.
I find no one who knows what that means.
Karl Rove knows, so does Wendell Potter.
02-18-2011, 07:24 AM   #11
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I find it fascinating that the countries in that top 10, or even 15 are all countries with more advanced social programs and more significant regulation than the U.S. We are in a virtual tie with Germany, which has the highest labor costs in the world.
02-18-2011, 07:38 AM   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by GeneV Quote
I find it fascinating that the countries in that top 10, or even 15 are all countries with more advanced social programs and more significant regulation than the U.S. We are in a virtual tie with Germany, which has the highest labor costs in the world.
fascinating is not the word I'd use.....
02-18-2011, 07:47 AM   #13
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QuoteOriginally posted by jeffkrol Quote
fascinating is not the word I'd use.....
I say it is fascinating because it seems to divorce the race to the bottom mentality we've followed for the last 30 years from true competitiveness.
02-18-2011, 08:00 AM   #14
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When this current cycle of competetiveness got going in the '80s, it was largely a knee jerk reaction to Japan's economy at the time, and largely promoted by magazines such as Forbes, and right wing think tanks, and of course management of large corporations. The same logic that defended ATM fees (showing us the cost structure of an ATM; but not the cost advantage vs. stocking a branch with tellers) also pointed to pay, benefits, working hours, etc etc... all to demonstrate the Sputnik moment American business was having relative to Japan.

Of course, only some of the management and social lessons were ever absorbed - the titans of business aren't usually deep thinkers, but rather doers and controllers - and when Japan proved an insufficient threat, they found others, a string of others, where China holds that position now.

Us individuals tend to commit a fallacy when we hear the complaints of business - the individual flesh and blood person tends to have inhibitions, morals, ethics, a sense of the right thing to do - whereas the corporate person tends to lack all of these; in fact, the pay and advancement of their spokespeople (both inside, and outside in the press, think tank, or PAC) rests on the effective advocacy of the near term best interests of the business. In other words, when hearing about competetiveness, we feel like, gee, it must be bad if they are actually complaining so much, and we tend to give up our own interests...
02-18-2011, 08:25 AM   #15
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Some of the Japanese lessons were not learned--such as the need to nurture and protect local business and lifestyle. The part that was learned is the part that has not worked well for Japan in the long run, as they cannot be the lowest cost producers now.

We can't continue judging the world on cost rather than value. I remember when I lived in Germany as a grad student noticing how everything cost more that in the U.S. However, it was better made and throwing something away was considered wasteful. It was sort of like the thinking of my parent's generation. Even a Tee-Shirt was made to last longer. Records were made of better Vinyl and on and on.

As to giving up when business complains, we are fear based life forms. We fear that we will lose more if we assert ourselves.
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