Forbes has released this year’s list of the Best Countries for Business. Sadly the U.S.A. has fallen further down the rankings. Forbes writes:
Looking for a land of opportunity? The Old World beckons. Despite a sluggish economy, 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), but it scores poorly on monetary freedom and bureaucracy/red tape. More than 150 new major regulations have been added since 2009 at a cost of $70 billion, according to the Heritage Foundation.
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.”
Read more here.
Click the map for the interactive version at Forbes.com
