Best countries for Business - 2015 Forbes

[George Eliot]

This will shock people. We keep going down. Social democracies are doing pretty well Check it out.
http://www.forbes.com/best-countries-for-business/list/#tab verall
1 Denmark
2 New Zealand
3 Norway
4 Ireland
5 Sweden
6 Finland
7 Canada
8 Singapore
9 Netherlands
10 United Kingdom
11 Hong Kong
12 Switzerland
13 Iceland
14 Australia
15 Belgium
16 Portugal
17 Lithuania
18 Germany
19 Estonia
20 Slsovenia
21 Taiwan
22. US

It goes through 144 countries the worst being Chad.
http://www.forbes.com/best-countries-for-business/ This site give more context.

[spanone]

1. i can't read the article...pay protected. how are they better for business?

[yeoman6987]

3. The United States has a ton of regulations and laws

Many countries don't have strict requirements we have which totally explains why we are lower on the list. The countries above us are pretty free with regulations.

[George Eliot]

4. Those countries are more regulated. Esp. the northern soc. democracies.

Look down the list to find countries with little regulation. They become destroyed economies and countries. Think Africa which is pretty much at the bottom.

[hedda_foil]

5. Take a closer look at the ranking again. They are virtually unanimous in having tighter regulations

And far more benefits than we have. These are a far cry from the libertarian business paradise you seem to envision.

[yeoman6987]

6. I just expressed my opinion. I don't have any libertarianism at all.

I don't care about businesses because I don't own one. That is up to the owners to figure it out. Maybe you are a business owner and take things personally. Who knows.

[davekriss]

15. That is an incredibly inaccurate statement

What do you base that on? Which economists? Which social commentators? The U.S. is far closer to a libertarian paradise than any of the countries above it on the list.

On edit: far closer to a libertarian paradise than *most* of the nations listed above us. Taiwan, Slovenia, and Estonia are lightly regulated, too.

[George Eliot]

7. Sorry for so much to read but this gives you most important information.

Try this if you didn't. I gave it as a second link: http://www.forbes.com/best-countries-for-business/ For some reason, I have no trouble opening either and I don't pay for Forbes.

There is a profile for each of the top ten countries. I'll paste two and I didn't see one for US or any beyond the top ten. The profiels are much more complete than these open encapsulations but you'd have to go read each profile. Basically, they talk about regulations, education, trade, lack of corruption,
1Denmark
GDP $341 B
As of December 2015

At a Glance
GDP Growth: 1.1%
GDP per Capita: $44,600
Trade Balance/GDP: 6.3%
Population: 5.6M
Public Debt/GDP: 45%
Unemployment: 4.9%
Inflation: 0.6% Denmark

1Canada
GDP $1,789 B
As of December 2015

At a Glance
GDP Growth: 2.4%
GDP per Capita: $45,000
Trade Balance/GDP: -2.1%
Population: 35.1M
Public Debt/GDP: 95%
Unemployment: 6.9%
Inflation: 1.9%

Some context:

Europe dominates the top of FORBES’ annual ranking of the finest countries for capitalism—with Scandinavia as a particular stand-out. European countries represent two-thirds of the top 25 with Denmark repeating in the lead position of the Best Countries for Business.
The picture isn’t as bright for the U.S., which slides four spots to No. 22. It continues a six-year descent since 2009 when the U.S. ranked second overall. The U.S. is the financial capital of the world and its largest economy at $17.4 trillion (China is second at $10.4 trillion).

The drop this year by the U.S. can be blamed on a couple of factors. Its rating fell relative to other countries on the World Bank’s measure of investor protection, which is part of the international financial institution’s annual “Doing Business” study. Blame poor scores on the “extent of shareholder governance.” The U.S. also got dinged on the World Banks’ tax component, as well as technological readiness per the World Economic Forum’s “Global Competiveness Report.”

(snip)

We gauged the Best Countries for Business by grading 144 nations on 11 different factors: pr
operty rights, innovation, taxes, technology, corruption, freedom (personal, trade and monetary), red tape, investor protection and stock market performance. Each category was equally weighted. The data came from published reports from the following organizations: Freedom House, Heritage Foundation, Property Rights Alliance, Transparency International, World Bank Group and World Economic Forum (click here for more details on the methodology).

Now, the Heritage Foundation did include red tape and regulations as reasons why the US is declining. Because it is a far-right wing think tank begun by Paul Weyrich and headed by Jim DeMint, it take their contribution with great skepticism. I know from my own experience and reading that these countries do have tight environmental regulations.

Also, some of these countries rely on fracking and oil reserves and such other natural resources for their inclusion. Esp. true of Canada. If you watch CBC, Canadians are beginning to talk about their lack of regulations. All is not perfect. Also, many European social democracies are taxed heavily. There are lists of "most-happy countries" and many of these countries comprise the top positions on those lists as well. High taxes means less worry on the part of citizens in these countries. They are relaxed, unhurried and happier.

Does it sound like I'm trying to sell you on becoming a social democracy?

I wish you could read and decide for yourself. Getting rid of environmental regs will turn us into Africa.

[brettdale]

2. awesome

we're number 2!!!!!

[Jnclr89]

8. We are a social democracy...

why are why going down?

[George Eliot]

9. Under FDR and Johnson we were becoming an SD but are we still?

I don't think so. Since Reagan we are now an oligarchy. Corporate interests run the country. No country with the inequality we now present is considered a social democracy.

[Jnclr89]

10. Oligarchy didn't run the country back in the day?

TR, FDR?

Clinton, Clinton?

[George Eliot]

12. IMO, no. FDR - "they hate me..."

Business interests have always been influential. That's why we got Truman over Henry Wallace who would have been much better for the country and he would have solidified FDR's social programs and increased them. But business preferred Truman instead and that's who we got.

[Fuddnik]

11. Did you notice that every country ahead of us has gov't run, single payer health care?

That's an enormous cost to business in the US. One of the reasons US auto makers have a lot of assembly plants in Canada.

[George Eliot]

13. Yes. I don't know why Americans don't get that. It's been part of the conversation for years.

Too much influence by insurance corporations and people buy their propaganda. Think about media and who advertises at the monumental rates these days. Boeing and big pharma. Only the government and corporations buy from Boeing. What do they gain by advertising on Meet the Press? It is a payoff. And pharmaceuticals require prescriptions. I hardly ever see pharma ads for aspirin. They pay broadcast media very well to exclude conversation about single payor healthcare. Also, net neutrality si off limits because Comcast is the net.

Internet, cable, broadcast media are all using public resources and should be beholden to the public. We need anti-trust regulation to be enforced again.

[Festivito]

14. Capitalists say socialist countries are better than US for capitalism.

And too many Americans are delusional ignorant stupid Americans who continue their belief that socialism is too toxic for their thoughts.