By just about every major economic standard that there is...
The United States ranks 2nd overall this year, displaying a constant improvement in score since 2010. Although ranking high overall, the country ranks 25th in basic requirements, with institutions, coming in below the top 10 and the macroeconomic environment placing 83rd. The macroeconomic environment pillar, out of all the components of the basic requirements subindex, has advanced the least and is one of the country’s worst-ranked areas. Compared with other top-ranked countries,
the United States performs poorly in health and primary education, coming in 29th despite an improvement of 0.15 in score over the last year. The strength of the
United States comes from its performance in efficiency enhancers and innovation and sophistication factors, where it comes in at 1st and 2nd respectively. These two subindexes reflect sound and well-functioning factors of production and product markets and a vibrant innovation
ecosystem. The United States faces numerous policy uncertainties moving forward, many of which are in the areas where it is relatively weakest. Successfully meeting institutional challenges relating to both public and private institutions, improving the macroeconomic environment, and investing in human capital—particularly in the areas
of health and primary education—will be crucial for the United States to maintain its position near the top of the competitiveness rankings.
-The Global Competitiveness Report 2017–2018