Geneva, May 17:

The US topped world competitiveness rankings for the 15th straight year, but its economy is showing the same signs of weakness that sank booming Japan in the early 1990s, according to an annual survey released yesterday.

Asian tigers Singapore and Hong Kong ranked just behind the US, as they did last year. Switzerland jumped two places to fourth, while Luxembourg rounded out the top five most competitive national economies, said the Lausanne, Switzerland-based, IMD business school, publisher of the World Competitiveness Yearbook.

“The big question is whether the US will be No 1 after this year,” project director Stephane Garelli said, adding that the report was based on 2007 data that do not fully reflect all of the problems in US financial markets, now. The study lists 55 economies according to 331 criteria.