World Economic Forum: Signs of a ‘weakening social fabric’ in the US

The United States has an
incredibly vibrant and productive economy, but there could be
trouble looming.
Aurelien Meunier /
Stringer / Getty Images

• The World Economic Forum recently released its annual
  
  Global Competitiveness Report, which ranks countries based
  on several metrics relating to economic growth and social
  stability.
• While the United States was ranked as the top country for
  overall economic competitiveness, the report included some
  troubling warnings about certain aspects of American society it
  calls “social capital.”
• The social capital variables include voter turnout in recent
  elections, and attitudes about civic trust and social solidarity.

The United States has an incredibly vibrant and productive
economy, but there could be trouble looming.

The World Economic Forum recently released its annual
Global Competitiveness Report, which ranks countries based on
several metrics relating to economic growth and social stability.
Those metrics are evaluated on a score from 0 to 100 for each
country, with 100 representing the ideal “frontier” for a
hypothetical country performing as well as possible on that
metric.

While the United States came out as the top country overall for
economic competitiveness, the report included some warnings about
certain aspects of American society.

The WEF wrote [emphasis ours],

“Although the country’s institutional framework remains very
conducive (74.6, 13th), there are indications of a
weakening social fabric (63.3, down from 65.5) and worsening
security situation (79.1, 56th) — the United States has
a homicide rate five times the average for advanced economies —
as well as relatively low checks and balances (76.3, 40th),
judicial independence (79.0, 15th), and transparency (75.0,
16th).”

The social capital metric used by the WEF is described in the
report as assessing “social cohesion and engagement, community
and family networks, and political participation and
institutional trust.” 

Specifically, the WEF based their social fabric metric on the
social capital pillar from the Legatum Prosperity Index. Legatum’s

description of their methodology lists the variables used in
their social capital pillar. The variables include voter turnout
in recent elections, along with several survey questions about
civic trust and social solidarity, like “Do you have confidence
in the local police force?” and “Have you donated to charity in
the past month?”

A decline in the kind of social health and engagement measured by
those questions could naturally lead to concerns about the
long-term political and business environment in the country.

The WEF also noted that access to healthcare in the US continues
to fall behind the country’s peers. The authors of the report
wrote, “The country also lags behind most advanced economies on
the Health pillar — a consequence of the country’s unequal access
to healthcare and broader socio-economic disparities.”

While the US remains at the forefront of economic
competitiveness, the issues raised by the WEF could lead to
problems in the future.