Economics and Education.

A nice piece of article on role of research and development and education on the Economics Index of leading countries.

http://www.eur.nl/nieuws/detail/article/30002/

Each year the World Economic Forum (WEF) competitiveness of countries. As a partner of the WEF, the Dutch institute INSCOPE collected the data for the Netherlands. Professor Henk Volberda, scientific director of INSCOPE states: "The indicators clearly show that the Netherlands is shifting gradually to a high knowledge". The strong competitiveness of our Dutch economy is in Volberda a reflection of our real economy and also great confidence in future growth. Volberda continues: "Despite the threat of" double-dip by rising budget deficits surrounding advanced western economies, the competitiveness of the Dutch economy improved again. The rise of an eighth to seventh position in times of high uncertainty may be seen as an historic achievement. " Switzerland leads rankings to, even Singapore, Finland and Denmark in the top-10 Switzerland remains the league lead Superior knowledge institutions, high investments in Research & Development (R & D) and the continued focus on innovation through collaboration between industry and universities, along with an excellent infrastructure, efficient markets and a reliable government guarantee for the Swiss number one position. Singapore, the leader of the Asian economies, increases this year for the first time to a second position. Singapore has not only the most effective government, but also excels in investments in infrastructure and education. The Scandinavian countries continue to dominate the Top 10 because of their high investments in R & D and education. Sweden is in a third place and Finland has increased from 7th to 4th place. Besides excellent education at all levels, these countries also have high quality public institutions, its capacity for innovation and a high influx of advanced knowledge. In particular Finland is at the forefront of innovation in Europe.