中國網站品牌欄目（頻道）
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 The June 8, 2011 file photo shows a woman changing Swiss francs to Euro at a counter in Kreuzlingen, Switzerland. |
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The US has tumbled further down a global ranking of the world's most competitive economies, landing at fifth place because of its huge deficits and declining public faith in government, a global economic group said Wednesday. The announcement by the World Economic Forum was the latest bad news for the Obama administration, which has been struggling to boost the sinking US economy and lower an unemployment rate of more than 9 percent. Switzerland held onto the top spot for the third consecutive year in the annual ranking by the Geneva-based forum, which is best known for its exclusive meeting of luminaries in Davos, Switzerland, each January. Singapore moved up to second place, bumping Sweden down to third. Finland moved up to fourth place, from seventh last year. The US was in fourth place last year, after falling from No. 1 in 2008. The rankings, which the forum has issued for more than three decades, are based on economic data and a survey of 15,000 business executives. The forum praised the US for its productivity, highly sophisticated and innovative companies, excellent universities and flexible labor market. But it also cited "a number of escalating weaknesses" such as rising government debt and declining public faith in political leaders and corporate ethics. The results of a survey of 142 nations comes a day before Obama is preparing to tackle jobs issues in a speech to the US Congress, and just as US polls show a clear majority of those surveyed say they disapprove of the way Obama is handling the economy. Switzerland held onto its top ranking, the forum said, because of "continuing strong performance across the board" with innovation, technological readiness, even-handed regulation and having one of the world's most stable economic environments. Germany, Europe's economic powerhouse, was sixth, followed by the Netherlands and Denmark. Japan came in ninth, and Britain was 10th. France was 18th, and Greece, saddled with debt, fell to 90th. The report looked at broader trends: While the US slipped, emerging markets gained traction. China took 26th place, highest among major emerging economies; Brazil was 53rd; India was 56th; and Russia was 66th. (Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
一個全球經濟組織周三稱，在一項世界經濟體的全球競爭力排行中，美國因為巨額赤字和公眾對政府信心的日益缺失，競爭力排名進一步下滑，降至第五位。 對于奧巴馬政府而言，世界經濟論壇宣布的這一排名是最新的壞消息。奧巴馬政府一直在努力地試圖振興衰退的美國經濟，降低失業率，美國失業率已超過9%。 世界經濟論壇公布的年度排名中，瑞士連續第三年位居榜首。世界經濟論壇，總部設在日內瓦，以其每年一月在瑞士達沃斯舉行的精英專場會議著稱。 新加坡升至第二名，將瑞典擠到第三。芬蘭從去年的第七名升至第四名。美國2008年排在第一，自那以后就開始下滑，去年排在第四。 世界經濟論壇發布這一排行已有三十多年歷史。該排行基于經濟數據和對1.5萬商業主管的調查。 論壇稱贊了美國的生產力、具有尖端品質和創新力的公司、杰出的大學和有彈性的勞動力市場。不過它也指出“許多逐步升級的弱點”，例如政府債務攀升、政治領袖和企業倫理的公眾信念降低。 這項涵蓋142個國家的調查就在奧巴馬準備發表國會演講、著手解決就業問題的前一天發布。美國民意調查顯示，絕大部分受訪者稱他們不認同奧巴馬處理經濟問題的方式。 論壇說，瑞士能維持榜首的位置是因為“在各方面持續強勁的表現”，瑞士在創新水平、技術就緒水平、公平條例等方面都表現出色，而且是全世界最穩定的經濟環境之一。 “歐洲的經濟發電站”德國排在第六位，其后是荷蘭和丹麥。日本排在第九，英國排第十。法國是第18名，負債累累的希臘降到了第90名。 這一報告還觀察了更大范圍內的趨勢：在美國經濟下滑的同時，新興市場則發展態勢良好。中國位居第26名，是新興經濟體中排名最高的，巴西排在第53位，印度第56位，俄羅斯第66位。 相關閱讀 （中國日報網英語點津 陳丹妮 編輯：馮明惠） |
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Vocabulary: tumble: 墜落 exclusive: 限制嚴格的 luminary: 杰出人物；才智出眾的人 escalating: 逐步上升（增強或擴大）的，逐步升級的 hold onto: 抓緊，保住 across the board: 全面的 even-handed: 公平的 powerhouse: 發電所；動力室 gain traction: 發展得越來越好，越來越受歡迎 |
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