Opinion pieces

The IMD World Competitiveness Ranking measures the competitiveness, or the ability of nations to generate prosperity, of 63 countries. The competitiveness of a country is important, as it predicts future growth.

Our western societies are going through a massive shake-up. The globalisation of the economy is leading to a multipolar, complex world.

A hail of statistics and forecasts from the IMF and the European Central Bank (ECB) is confronting us with an undeniable truth – the economy is not recovering fast enough. Growth rates, though positive, are mediocre.

The real challenge over the next few years will be to avoid the shipwreck of the eurozone economy in what is often called a Japanese-style deflationary scenario - but with the Chinese slow-down feeding into it.

The creation of the euro was a purely political decision. There is nothing surprising about that - subjecting a population to a currency is a regalian right. In any case, a currency has to be backed by pledges of confidence that only the State can provide.

The unthinkable has happened – we are entering a period of negative interest rates. This startling situation began last year, when the ECB applied negative interest rates to the deposits that were placed with it.