SINGAPORE TOPS WORLD COMPETITIVENESS RANKINGS AS IRELAND DROPS TO 21st SPOT - Ireland has dropped two places in a competitiveness ranking, which has also seen the US pipped at the post for the first time in decades by Singapore and Hong Kong. The World Competitiveness Yearbook 2010 - published by Swiss business school the Institute for Management Development - shows that Ireland is ranked 21st, dropping from 19th place last year. Economists there also say that it will take more than ten years for Ireland's public debt to become manageable.
Lionel Alexander, the managing director of Hewlett Packard in Ireland and the president of the American Chamber of Commerce, says the survey looks at the key drivers of an economy when it makes its rankings. These include economic growth, exchange rates, trade and investment flows and employment figures. He says that countries that were able to withstand the recent downturn did well in the rankings, as did those countries whose economies are tied to Asia. He warns that Ireland's competitiveness could worsen if the country does not get its austerity measures in line. Mr Alexander also says that the Government's Innovation Taskforce, which is charged with creating 117,000 jobs by 2020, has to focus on retaining jobs here.
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MORNING BRIEFS - US Republicans last night blocked a final Senate vote on a financial regulation bill containing the most significant reforms for Wall Street since the 1930s. Two Democrats joined 39 Republicans to deny the Democrats the 60 votes they needed in a surprise setback for President Barack Obama.
*** The Federal Reserve believes the US economy will be stronger than expected this year, with improved growth and lower unemployment, minutes of the latest central bank meeting have shown.
*** Berlin's unilateral action against naked short selling of some German financial stocks worried investors yesterday, and suggested Europe is unable to form a united front in addressing its debt crisis. Main European markets suffered falls of around 3% yesterday but the steep falls are not expected to continue today.
*** On the currency markets, the euro is trading at $1.2347 cents and 85.9 pence sterling.
