* Banana Republic: noun, derogatory, a small politically unstable country whose economy is dependent on a single export controlled by foreign concerns. Source: Compact Oxford English Dictionary.
US meet your future. From the World Economic Forum’s Competitiveness Report via Reuters:
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Canada has the world’s soundest banking system, closely followed by Sweden, Luxembourg and Australia, a survey by the World Economic Forum has found as financial crisis and bank failures shake world markets.
But Britain, which once ranked in the top five, has slipped to 44th place behind El Salvador and Peru, after a 50 billion pound ($86.5 billion) pledge this week by the government to bolster bank balance sheets.
The United States, where some of Wall Street’s biggest financial names have collapsed in recent weeks, rated only 40, just behind Germany at 39, and smaller states such as Barbados, Estonia and even Namibia, in southern Africa.
To be fair the US is still rated the most competitive economy (competitiveness being defined by the World Economic Forum as the set of institutions, policies, and factors that determine the level of productivity of a country). Britain, however, fell three positions to 12th place. Lots more factoids in the report itself, here.
Related links:
Mommy, where does bailout money come from? - FT Alphaville
