Non-communicable diseases have been established as a clear threat not only to human health, but also to development and economic growth. Claiming 63% of all deaths, these diseases are currently the world’s main killer. Eighty percent of these deaths now occur in low- and middle-income countries. Half of those who die of chronic non-communicable diseases are in the prime of their productive years, and thus, the disability imposed and the lives lost are also endangering industry competitiveness across borders.
The Global Competitiveness
Index 2011–2012: Setting
the Foundations for Strong
Productivity
XAVIER SALA-I-MARTIN
BEÑAT BILBAO-OSORIO
JENNIFER BLANKE
MARGARETA DRZENIEK HANOUZ
THIERRY GEIGER
World Economic Forum
The Global Competitiveness Report 2011–2012 is coming
out at a time of re-emerging uncertainty in the global
economy. At the beginning of the year, worldwide
recovery appeared fairly certain, with economic growth
for 2011 and 2012 projected by the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) at 4.3 percent and 4.5 percent,
respectively. However, the middle of the year saw
uncertainties regarding the future economic outlook
re-emerge, as growth figures for many economies had
to be adjusted downward and the political wrangling in
the United States and Europe undermined confidence
in the ability of governments to take the necessary steps
to restore growth.
Recent developments reinforce the observation
that economic growth is unequally distributed and
highlight the shift of balance of economic activity. On
the one hand, emerging markets and developing econo-
mies, particularly in Asia, have seen relatively strong
economic growth—estimated at 6.6 and 6.4 percent for
2011 and 2012, respectively, and attracting increasing
financial flows. On the other hand, the United States,
Japan, and Europe are experiencing slow and deceler-
ating growth with persistent high unemployment and
continued financial vulnerability, particularly in some
European economies. GDP growth rates for advanced
economies in 2011 are expected to remain at levels that,
for most countries, are not strong enough to reduce the
unemployment built up during the recession.
In this context, policymakers across all regions are
facing difficult economic management challenges. After
closing the output gap and reducing the excess capacity
generated during the crisis, emerging and developing
countries are benefitting from buoyant internal demand,
although they are now facing inflationary pressures caused
by rising commodity prices. In advanced economies,
the devastating earthquake in Japan and doubts about
the sustainability of public debt in Europe, the United
States, and Japan—issues that could further burden
the still-fragile banking sectors in these countries—are
undermining investor and business confidence and
casting a shadow of uncertainty over the short-term
economic outlook. Particularly worrisome is the situ-
ation in some peripheral economies of the euro zone,
where—in spite of the adoption of recovery plans—
high public deficit and debt levels, coupled with anemic
growth, have led to an increased vulnerability of the
economy and much distress in financial markets, as fears
of default continue to spread. This complex situation in
turn encumbers the fiscal consolidation that will reduce
debt burdens to the more manageable levels necessary
to support longer-term economic performance.
Meeting the economic policy challenges resulting
from this two-speed recovery requires not losing sight
of long-term competitiveness fundamentals amid nu-
merous short-term political pressures in industrialized
and emerging economies alike
