Still On Top
A new study by the World Economic Forum ranks the world's strongest financial systems. Despite being the epicenter of the worst global financial crisis since WWII, the United States comes out on top. The project's lead academic, New York University's Nouriel Roubini, spoke with Rana Foroohar:
What does it say about the overall financial health of the world that the U.S. still has the strongest financial system?
The study had several major categories—regulatory environment, capitalization, business climate, access to credit and so on—and stability was just one of them. On that front, the U.S. actually ranked No. 10, not No. 1. The U.K.—No. 2 overall—was even lower, in 22nd place.
Hong Kong places No. 8, but India, which many consider to have a stronger and more Westernized system, doesn
'
t make the top 10.
India [is] still very rural and incredibly underbanked. There are lots of people in India who simply have no access to any type of banking services. That's not the case in China.
What surprised you most about the ranking?
That it wasn't a clear-cut case of more developed nations scoring higher than less developed ones ... Italy, for example, was No. 22 overall, lower than a number of emerging nations like [South] Korea and Malaysia. I think that trend is going to strengthen.
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Rana Foroohar is the deputy editor in charge of international business and economics coverage for Newsweek. She conceives and edits a weekly section of breaking news stories, features and guest articles. She also writes economic cover stories and opinion pieces, and pens a bi-weekly column on the global economy.
Foroohar oversees Newsweek's team of global correspondents and stringers, directing their reporting on the week's business news. She edits regular columnists such as hedge fund manager Barton Biggs, Morgan Stanley emerging markets head Ruchir Sharma, Yale professor Jeffrey Garten and PIMCO CEO Mohamed El-Erian. She is in charge of economic coverage for Newsweek's annual Davos special issue, which features pieces by world leaders and economic thinkers, and also chairs panel discussions while at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Prior to taking this New York based position in 2007, Foroohar spent six years as Newsweek's European Economic Correspondent based in London, covering Europe and the Middle East. During this time, she was awarded the German Marshall Fund's Peter R. Weitz Prize for transatlantic reporting. She has also worked as a general editor at Newsweek, a reporter for Forbes magazine, and as a writer and editor at various other national and international publications. Foroohar graduated in 1992 from Barnard College, Columbia University, with a B.A. in English literature. She is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
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