In How Countries Compete : Strategy, structure, and government in the global economy, Richard H.K. Vietor shows how governments both set the direction and create the climate for a nation's economic development and profitable private enterprise. Vietor points out that in today's hypercompetitive environment, government invariably provides many of the distinctive advatages that firms need to go head to head with rivals. These advantages include high savings and low interest rates for investment, sound property rights and goog governance, a technologically motivated and committed workforce, a low rate of inflation, and rapidly expanding expanding domestic market.

Drawing on histor, economic analysis, and interviews with executives and officials around the globe, Vietor provides vivid and insightful examinations of different approaches to government strategy, leading o both success and failure. Sperate chapters highlight important countries - including China, India, japan, Singapore, and the United States, as well as Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Italy - and reveal the unique social, economic, cultural, and historical forces that determine a country's trajectory. Vietor also challenges the widespread notion that in market-driven economics, such as the United States, a strong government can only hinder business success.

A provocative account and a rich resource, How Countries Compete offers potent insights into how the business environment has evolved in crucial nations - and what its trajectory might look like in the future.