National U.S. Sinks in Global Competitiveness Survey By Steve Inskeep Published September 27, 2006 at 3:00 AM PDT This story was published more than 18 years ago. Facebook WhatsApp Email Listen • 0:00 RENEE MONTAGNE, Host:This year, Switzerland was named the most competitive economy in the world, followed by Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Singapore. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.