Apropos the recent discussion of US vs. European "competitiveness," here's
an interesting table from the Economist Intelligence Unit - their estimates
of the costs of doing business for multinationals in various countries.
Unsurprisingly, Germany is #1 - but perhaps surpisingly, the US is #2. The
UK is more expensive than Sweden. I guess production wages aren't the only
story. Components of the estimates include wage costs (including executive
salaries), business travel, teaxes, rents, telecoms, and transport. For
some unexplained reason, Japan isn't included.
Doug
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BUSINESS COSTS COMPARISONS
Economist Intelligence Unit estimates
Germany 100.0
US 91.8
Belgium 89.4
UK 81.4
France 79.5
Netherlands 74.2
Sweden 68.6
Australia 65.4
Italy 64.9
Singapore 59.0
Canada 58.5
Argentina 54.1
Spain 52.9
Brazil 52.3
Mexico 50.2
Hong Kong 48.8
Russia 47.3
Poland 25.1
India 22.1
Czech Rep 20.5
Chile 19.0
China 10.4
Thailand 5.6
Hungary 2.2
Malaysia 1.7
Indonesia 1.6
South Africa 1.0