The Global competitiveness report – an ideological Tour de Force

For 30 years now the World Economic Forum (WEF) has produced the Global Competitiveness Report (GCR), which purports to rank countries according to their economic competitiveness. For a number of years, the US tended to rank highest. However, in 2009 it came in second, after Switzerland. In 2010, the US slipped still further into fourth place. The rankings are alleged to be based on sound science. Closer examination reveals a flawed methodology and that many of the underlying assumptions do not reflect scientific fact, but an ideological bias towards the Anglo/US Business Model and against the Rhineland Business Model. This is a serious problem because: a) the Rhineland model has been shown over and over again to deliver superior organizational performance when compared to the Anglo/US model, including in the areas of most concern to the champions of the Anglo/US model - shareholder returns and shareholder growth; b) the GCR is the main reference work for the highly influential annual WEF meetings of leading international political and business leaders at Davos, Switzerland; and c) US-influenced or dominated institutions rely on the GCR’s false and misleading findings to justify imposing their ideological agenda on other countries.