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The U.S. ranks first in the World Economic Forum’s annual global competitiveness study for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis. 

Thanks to the GOP tax cuts and deregulatory progress, the U.S. beat Singapore (83.5), Germany (82.8), Switzerland (82.6), and Japan (82.5), the other top markets, with a high score of 85.6 out of 100. The global median of 140 assessed countries is 60, and Chad scoring last with 35.5. 

America is competitive again after Trump’s tax cuts brought the U.S. corporate tax rate from 35 percent, among the highest rate in the developed world, to 21 percent.

The study uses a new methodology to define the dynamics of the global economy, characterized by a combination of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, idea generation, entrepreneurial culture, and the number of businesses that disrupt existing markets among other factors. 

These new models describe the competitiveness through 98 indicators, using a scale from 0 to 100, which are organized into 12 categories that state how close an economy is to an ideal state or frontier of competitiveness. The categories are infrastructure, institutions, the adoption of information and communications technology, macroeconomic stability, health, skills, product market, labor market, financial system, market size, business dynamism, and innovation capability.

See the full World Economic Forum study here.