Due to the devaluation of the ruble, Russia has become more competitive to the US

Boston Consulting Group (BCG) experts assess the competitiveness of the economies of twenty-five countries, which account for almost ninety percent of global exports of manufactured goods. The basis is the index of productive costs. The lower the cost index, the lower the cost of goods and services, which means the higher the competitiveness relative to the US economy.

The index includes four components: the level of wages, labor productivity, the cost of energy and the rate of the national currency.

Over the past ten years, the competitiveness of the United States has grown steadily in relation to all other countries, with the exception of Mexico - BCG analysts then called these two countries "new stars". But in 2015, the gap in state competitiveness compared to other countries began to shrink against the backdrop of a stronger dollar.

In the first half of 2015, the euro fell by eighteen percent to the US dollar. Because of this, most European exporting countries have improved their competitiveness.

It is not surprising that Russia rose in the list - last year the real effective exchange rate of the ruble fell by eight percent to the 2013 year, and this year on average for the first half of the year it fell another seventeen percent.

Thus, Russia's competitiveness in production costs has become higher than in the United States. But this effect will last no longer than a year.