National competitiveness

A country’s competitiveness, like a company’s, is not primarily a matter of sales: it is a matter of incomes, and incomes earned, not borrowed. To be competitive means to raise incomes as rapidly as competitors do and to make the investments necessary to keep up competitively in the future. From this perspective, U.S. competitiveness is […]

A former U.S. treasury secretary reminds CEOs to focus on the long term.

Although the U.S. retains profound competitive strengths--for instance, in higher education and entrepreneurship--those strengths are increasingly threatened...

It’s a political talking point, so let’s look at the data.

Multinational corporations, especially those based in the United States, account for substantial shares of private economic activity in America and have long contributed to the country’s competitiveness. During the last decade, however, a worrisome trend developed: The role of these companies in the U.S. economy declined on many measures. This trend raises serious questions about […]

Private R&D spending is actually increasing; it’s public investment that’s down.

War and pandemic have not reduced the demand for energy.

In recent years, major industries in the United States have been deregulated--for example, telecommunications, airlines, and banking--and now the winds...

It's an increasingly viable option for companies anxious about sourcing from China.

There's an upside to both outlooks.

They don’t rely on technological breakthroughs.

It’s time to diversify.

Three questions that could determine what comes next.

The competitiveness debate that today focuses on America’s industrial performance will soon confront something even more that fundamental: money. The rise of Japanese financial power and the contradictions of U.S. economic policy are weakening the competitive position of the U.S. financial services industry—one of the few sectors where the United States still regards itself as […]

Are you prepared?

Have employment patterns changed forever?

One man’s plan for blasting open the electricity market.

Its turnaround plan isn't good business.

Clearly, I have no choice but to file for French citizenship.

Pulling up the drawbridge has never been an option.

The case examines Málaga's evolution and its positioning as a smart city. It describes various strategic plans followed by the city, its strengths and...

As shown with Psy's hit song, "Gangnam Style," K-Pop (Korean Pop) music has been successful recently, not only in Asia but also in many other countries....

The World Trade Organization and NAFTA are reviewing the sweetener system and governmental sugar programs and their impact on world trade. What position...

Acoplasticos was established in 1961 as a lobbying group for Colombia's major plastics manufacturing companies. In the early 1980s, the organization shifted...

After decades of poor economic performance, the Irish government adopted major changes in economic policy in 1987. By the end of the 1990s, Ireland's...

In 1960, the United States was facing a balance of payments problem. Gold reserves were being drained, American products were losing competitiveness,...

Alexandria Confectionery & Chocolate Company (trading as Corona), led by chief executive officer Shady Farid, grappled with a post-pandemic downturn in...

The theory of competitive advantage is one of the most widely accepted economic principles among economists. The theory, as well as substantial historical...

When Covid-19 hit the US in 2020, the grocery retail industry underwent a greatly accelerated digital transformation as consumers' habits changed drastically...

The global beer industry took an unprecedented hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. Around the world, governments implemented restrictive coronavirus containment...

For the past few decades, Australia has dealt with the benefits and costs of repeated mining booms-inflation, a housing bubble, a current account deficit,...

Discusses U.S. and Japanese innovation systems. Illustrates these with comparative studies of computer and pharmaceutical industries. Probes effects of...

Executives in heavily regulated industries, such as Healthcare, often feel their hands are tied by rules and regulations which some claim to even interfere...

The cases describe the development, worldwide launch, and subsequent marketing of a new pharmaceutical product which, although it represented only a slight...

Manufacturing's central role in global innovation... Companies compete on the decisions they make. For years--even decades--in response to intensifying...

Supplement to case IN1271. The cases describe the development, worldwide launch, and subsequent marketing of a new pharmaceutical product which, although...

Le Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique S.A. (CSEM)--the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology--was a major nonprofit research...

Programs of economic liberalization often lead to dramatic changes in industry structure. This note presents excerpts from several research papers that...

How nations trade and whether they benefit from it are two of the oldest and most important questions in political economy. In the 170 years since David...

A country’s competitiveness, like a company’s, is not primarily a matter of sales: it is a matter of incomes, and incomes earned, not borrowed. To be competitive means to raise incomes as rapidly as competitors do and to make the investments necessary to keep up competitively in the future. From this perspective, U.S. competitiveness is […]

A former U.S. treasury secretary reminds CEOs to focus on the long term.

The case examines Málaga's evolution and its positioning as a smart city. It describes various strategic plans followed by the city, its strengths and...

Although the U.S. retains profound competitive strengths--for instance, in higher education and entrepreneurship--those strengths are increasingly threatened...

It’s a political talking point, so let’s look at the data.

Multinational corporations, especially those based in the United States, account for substantial shares of private economic activity in America and have long contributed to the country’s competitiveness. During the last decade, however, a worrisome trend developed: The role of these companies in the U.S. economy declined on many measures. This trend raises serious questions about […]

Private R&D spending is actually increasing; it’s public investment that’s down.

War and pandemic have not reduced the demand for energy.

In recent years, major industries in the United States have been deregulated--for example, telecommunications, airlines, and banking--and now the winds...

It's an increasingly viable option for companies anxious about sourcing from China.