Competitiveness of EU versus USA. WWWforEurope Policy Paper No. 29

This paper aims to redefine the term competitiveness to enhance its usefulness for the evaluation of country performance and for policy conclusions. We attempt to establish a definition that is adequate if economic policy strives for a new growth path that is more dynamic, socially inclusive and ecologically sustainable. We tentatively apply the proposed definition to evaluate the "competitiveness" of EU member countries as well as to compare Europe's "competitiveness" with that of the USA (and, where possible, with Switzerland, Japan and China).