According to the World Economic Forum, this year Canada slipped to 12^th position in Global competitiveness. As the Canadian economy slowed down, it lost its position among the top 10 global competitors to emerging economies from Asia. While emerging economies showed robust growth, the developed economies were mired with slow recovery and high unemployment. While in absolute terms, we see a marginal increase in Canada’s competitiveness, however, there is a higher relative increase in competiveness among competitor nations. Canada needs to improve its score on foreign direct investments, trade tariffs, and wasteful spending, while at the same time effectively use its resources (people and products) to adapt to globalization faster than its competitors.

Questions

1. How do you think Canada can improve its foreign direct investment?

2. Does globalization improve employment for unemployed Canadians? How?

3. How do emerging economies maintain a high growth rate despite the world recession?

Source: J. Morrissy “Canada falls out of top 10 most competitive economies”, Financial Post (Retrievable online at: http://business.financialpost.com/2011/09/07/canada-falls-out-of-top-10-most-competitive-economies/)