Business Notes Foreign

For a brief and shining moment -- actually, a year -- the U.S. had once again forged ahead of Japan to become the world's business leader. But it was too good to last. Last week Japan regained the top spot in a ranking of the most competitive industrial countries compiled annually by the European Management Forum, a nonprofit foundation based in Geneva. The EMF rankings are based on a survey of 5,000 corporate officials and economists, who make assessments using such guideposts as economic dynamism, political stability and the degree of state interference.