Is the United States falling behind in the innovation race?

Great business minds can agree on one thing these turbulent days: The United States is in danger of losing its competetive edge. Bill Gates has complained about it. Tom Friedman is worried America has fallen behind in the green technology race. Intel Chairman Craig Barrett wrote about the United States’ research and development void for FP a couple of years ago.

So when Fast Company published its list of The 50 Most Innovative Companies in the world, I expected it to be loaded with Bangalore and Shenzhen-based startups. But to my surprise, 38 of the 50 most innovative companies in the world are still in the United States. Only three hail from India or China, and only four from all of Europe.

But it’s not all good news for the buy-America crowd. Not a single U.S. car company makes the cut (the only two listed are Toyota and Tata motors). There’s not a single U.S. airline, telecom, oil, or chemical company. Of course the list tends to favor young companies and Internet darlings, but that’s no excuse for the stagnation that has kept once-great giants like General Motors, Ford, and AT&T off this list.

Here are the top 10 from Fast Company’s list of 50. For the rest, be sure to visit the Web site.

1. Google
2. Apple
3. Facebook
4. General Electric
5. IDEO
6. NIKE
7. NOKIA
8. Alibaba
9. Amazon
10. Nintendo

Of course, anytime someone publishes a list, it’s our duty to debate what was left off. Here are three innovative, non-U.S. companies that immediately come to mind: Virgin Atlantic, Honda, and Canon. Whom am I missing?