competitive edge in the world market

In the previous week several students made the assertion that the U.S. has lost its competitive edge in the world market and others disagreed. This is a valid discussion point , considering that discussing business and information technology and figuring out best practices may be a waste of time if we are on the economic equivalent of the Titanic (personally disagree with this point of view). With this in mind, I pose the following discussion questions for this week;

1. Where does the United States rank in its economic status in the world currently? (be sure to site your source)

2. If our economic status is high, why is there a perception that we are in decline or somehow flawed in our economic model? What are all the factors driving that perception?

3. In your opinion, what are the U.S.’s true strengths and weaknesses?

4. What can we as students of business do to survive and thrive in today’s economic realities?