Forbes's list of "Best Countries for Business"

[Politesse]

Perhaps I missed it but I wonder what factors they measure and weigh to get to those ranks. I recall reading that single payer health insurance in all of the other developed countries has actually been very good for business. Particularly allowing small companies to grow into larger companies without the direct burden of paying for health insurance. Of course the US pays like twice the cost per capita for health insurance with no particular benefit and a lot of drawbacks. I am curious how that was factored in.

Yes, these sorts of ranked lists are usually more about the criteria some journalist has defined as "important" than what a business would think.

I would look at how businesses vote with their feet.

Uh, all of those countries have pretty active business sectors also.

 

[Horatio Parker]

Perhaps I missed it but I wonder what factors they measure and weigh to get to those ranks. I recall reading that single payer health insurance in all of the other developed countries has actually been very good for business. Particularly allowing small companies to grow into larger companies without the direct burden of paying for health insurance. Of course the US pays like twice the cost per capita for health insurance with no particular benefit and a lot of drawbacks. I am curious how that was factored in.

Of course. What's an optimal population for business? Healthy, educated, and productive. Unfortunately, those are costs. Our business sector seems to think it'll happen by itself if we just get our market mojo right.

 

[dismal]

Perhaps I missed it but I wonder what factors they measure and weigh to get to those ranks. I recall reading that single payer health insurance in all of the other developed countries has actually been very good for business. Particularly allowing small companies to grow into larger companies without the direct burden of paying for health insurance. Of course the US pays like twice the cost per capita for health insurance with no particular benefit and a lot of drawbacks. I am curious how that was factored in.

Yes, these sorts of ranked lists are usually more about the criteria some journalist has defined as "important" than what a business would think.

I would look at how businesses vote with their feet.

Uh, all of those countries have pretty active business sectors also.

It seems possible to me that both those things could be true.

 

[Jason Harvestdancer]

Here by the way is Sweden and the US' rankings:

<snipped, restructured below.>

                     US   Sw
Trade Freedom      | 46 | 21 |
Monetary Freedom   | 80 | 34 |
Property Rights    | 14 |  7 |
Innovation         |  2 |  5 |
Technology         | 27 |  4 |
Red Tape           | 51 | 17 |
Investor Protection| 49 | 32 |
Corruption         | 16 |  6 |
Personal Freedom   | 34 |  1 |
Tax Burden         | 37 | 27 |

Interesting. All the progressives who say the US should be more like Sweden, they are saying we need lower taxes and more freedom.