Interesting, the global competitiveness report of the WEF lists South Korea as rank 20 for innovation. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GCR2016-2017/05FullReport/TheGl... [PDF] page 50
The good thing about rankings is that you have many to choose from.
The World’s Most Innovative Economies
21–30 of 122 posts
Re: The World’s Most Innovative Economies
#22> South Korea remained the big winner, topping the international charts in R&D intensity, value-added manufacturing and patent activity and with top-five rankings in high-tech density, higher education and researcher concentration None of these are really all that relevant to true innovation. As a European, it's clear to me that no country comes even close to the US in terms of innovation. Almost all really new techn…
> Almost all really new technologies come out of the US.
I would add: Almost all really new technologies in the market come out of the US.
US is the best at transforming research in $.
Re: The World’s Most Innovative Economies
#23South Korea just steals and takes credit for everything Japan makes. They're like China, but they get away with it better.
meh, that is a pretty naive thing to say
Re: The World’s Most Innovative Economies
#24> Fresh ideas tend to pay off big in Sweden, even as the current government is less business-friendly and has imposed labor taxes that could crimp business investment Maybe it is that high taxes and citizen friendly social system the responsible for the success of the country. I moved to Sweden to work in the tech sector because I like how socially advanced is the country. Taxes are used to invest in society, and tha…
I think it's very much a cultural thing. Much of the social system in the US is informal. For example in the American South, things like the Salvation Army are huge and lots of small churches have homeless programs, food drives, and facilities that push for employment skills. Of course that ties a lot of dogma into social help, but it's there. Sweden, having a much smaller government with fewer conflicting factions i…
I think by social system he includes the health services.
A similar notion about Norway singled out the public health services as an enabler for someone to come up with an idea and start their own business without worrying about things like health insurance.
Thus the business could grow more organically than the pump and dump VC circus seen in USA.
Re: The World’s Most Innovative Economies
#25This makes 0 sense to my heavily biased brain. As a Swede that is keeping a close eye on the domestic market, I can't find that many "innovations" taking place in most commercial sectors. R&D means quack-all if you cant translate that research into good and services that the citizens of said country can take advantage of.
Thats thinking in the SV VC fueled startup way, where everything has to be Facebook, Twitter, Netflix or something else directly aimed at the hindbrain of the masses.
Re: The World’s Most Innovative Economies
#26>The Swedes themselves promote an atmosphere of great personal ambition — unlike some European neighbors that emphasize the collective — and that’s a boon to innovation, he said. >“In the culture, people are super individualistic — this means that people have ideas and are very interested in pursuing them in this way in order to become wealthy,” said Henrekson. This is very true, and a thing which is often misunderst…
> Sweden is perhaps one of the most individualistic country in the world: we value the individual over the family or community, and we believe that everyone should have the same opportunities regardless of the circumstances of their birth. This is the reason we have the social safety net we have: it is a substitute for family and community and other more traditional support systems.
I think this has its costs; humans are social and they need the social context. The state certainly can't deliver a social context on a limited budget care & support machine. (Example: Your grandmother will meet 100 different caregivers for home care in a year, if she has that. That's 100 strangers instead of having a personal relation.
That can be solved either with a more expensive consistent employment regime in elderly care, or care from family.)
Re: The World’s Most Innovative Economies
#27>The Swedes themselves promote an atmosphere of great personal ambition — unlike some European neighbors that emphasize the collective — and that’s a boon to innovation, he said. >“In the culture, people are super individualistic — this means that people have ideas and are very interested in pursuing them in this way in order to become wealthy,” said Henrekson. This is very true, and a thing which is often misunderst…
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Re: The World’s Most Innovative Economies
#28>The Swedes themselves promote an atmosphere of great personal ambition — unlike some European neighbors that emphasize the collective — and that’s a boon to innovation, he said. >“In the culture, people are super individualistic — this means that people have ideas and are very interested in pursuing them in this way in order to become wealthy,” said Henrekson. This is very true, and a thing which is often misunderst…
> Sweden is perhaps one of the most individualistic country in the world: we value the individual over the family or community, and we believe that everyone should have the same opportunities regardless of the circumstances of their birth. This is the reason we have the social safety net we have: it is a substitute for family and community and other more traditional support systems. I think this has its costs; humans…
Oh, yes, I totally agree! There's a very steep cost to this model of "Swedish-style individualism", and it's exactly the one you describe. Swedes have much weaker bonds to their extended family, their community, their religious institutions (etc.) and it's clearly not a good thing. Humans are social animals.
I'm not necessarily arguing that Sweden is a model society and all other countries should adopt our ways. What I'm arguing against is the idea (fairly common, at least in the US) that higher taxes and a more generous welfare state is always antithetical to individualism and the entrepreneurial spirit. It can be, certainly, but it is not necessarily so.
Re: The World’s Most Innovative Economies
#29>The Swedes themselves promote an atmosphere of great personal ambition — unlike some European neighbors that emphasize the collective — and that’s a boon to innovation, he said. >“In the culture, people are super individualistic — this means that people have ideas and are very interested in pursuing them in this way in order to become wealthy,” said Henrekson. This is very true, and a thing which is often misunderst…
> Sweden is perhaps one of the most individualistic country in the world: we value the individual over the family or community, and we believe that everyone should have the same opportunities regardless of the circumstances of their birth. This is the reason we have the social safety net we have: it is a substitute for family and community and other more traditional support systems. I think this has its costs; humans…
"Example: Your grandmother will meet 100 different caregivers for home care in a year"
French here. My grand pa is old and has caregivers (paid by his public health care + the local county) coming to his home every day, they're always the same 4-5 people.
It's not hard giving people a steady job instead of using disposable contractors.
Re: The World’s Most Innovative Economies
#30>The Swedes themselves promote an atmosphere of great personal ambition — unlike some European neighbors that emphasize the collective — and that’s a boon to innovation, he said. >“In the culture, people are super individualistic — this means that people have ideas and are very interested in pursuing them in this way in order to become wealthy,” said Henrekson. This is very true, and a thing which is often misunderst…
I think you are applying your own values to the population as a whole. Depending on ones ethnicity, social class, and other variables, one may, as a Swede, value family or community over the individual.