A new 400-page report by the World Economic Forum reveals the current state of economic competitiveness for almost 140 countries around the world and offers analysis on the trends that will determine the economic landscape of the future.
The report measures countries across three "subindexes," each measured by a collection of "pillars" that seek to understand how countries perform across a variety of variables. The pillars cover everything from the state of infrastructure and primary education, variables that measure a country's basic requirements to attracting and training quality workers, to technological readiness and innovation, variables that describe how a country will drive efficiency and new developments in the future.
Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg hasn't held political office for three years. Yet he's still pushing people around and increasing Americans' taxes.
On Election Day, four cities passed new taxes on soda after Bloomberg spent millions pushing for anti-soda ballot initiatives. In Boulder, Colorado, voters said yes to a 2-cent-per-ounce excise tax on distributors of sugary drinks, which includes sodas, sports beverages and sweetened iced tea. In California, the cities of San Francisco, Oakland and Albany each added a 1-cent-per-ounce excise tax on sugar-added drinks, increasing the price of a two-liter bottle of soda by 67 cents.
