Every year, the World Bank ranks the world’s nations in terms of how easy it is to conduct business in each country. These rankings are extremely useful in determining which countries will benefit from improved economic performance and which countries will suffer from falling economic performance.
The World Bank recently published its Doing Business report for 2012 and the news for Americans is not good. The U.S. fell in five categories and improved in none — none.
| Category | 2011 | 2012 | Drop |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting a Business | 11 | 13 | -2 |
| Dealing with Construction Permits | 17 | 17 | |
| Getting Electricity | 16 | 17 | -1 |
| Registering Property | 11 | 16 | -5 |
| Getting Credit | 4 | 4 | |
| Protecting Investors | 5 | 5 | |
| Paying Taxes | 70 | 72 | -2 |
| Trading Across Borders | 20 | 20 | |
| Enforcing Contracts | 7 | 7 | |
| Resolving Insolvency | 14 | 15 | -1 |
It is now more difficult to start a business, get electricity, register property, pay taxes, and resolve insolvency in America. These are the results of a government which has grown out of control in both scope and size. There is no hope for an economic recovery in the United States until the government is prevented from destroying American business.
