Competitiveness is an essential need for any economic entity, and in today’s global context it is a core qualifier for countries. Having reported on the measurements of competitiveness regularly over the past few years, Executive followed an invitation to visit one of the two institutions dedicated to measuring the competitiveness of nations in order to investigate what this institution is all about and what it plans. Gloom and boom A joke from the Soviet era has East German school kids answer their teacher’s question about the competitive situation in the divided country. When asked about the situation in the capitalist German Federal Republic (the state that won the 1974 World Cup) the kids say: “The exploitative West German political creation of the US imperialists has stagnated in its economic development and today is heading over the edge of an abyss.” “Bravo,” replies the teacher. “And what is the state of
