Of course, it can be difficult for investors to keep track of what’s going on in terms of economic policy in all the countries around the world. The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times can only cover business news in so many countries. Fortunately for investors, they have another option. The World Bank publishes a handy pamphlet known as the Doing Business report – a controversial document that ranks the world’s countries every year based on the ‘ease of doing business’ in them. For the most part, the fewer regulations a country has, the higher they score. Investors and CEOs use the
Of course, it can be difficult for investors to keep track of what’s going on in terms of economic policy in all the countries around the world. The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times can only cover business news in so many countries. Fortunately for investors, they have another option. The World Bank publishes a handy pamphlet known as the Doing Business report – a controversial document that ranks the world’s countries every year based on the ‘ease of doing business’ in them. For the most part, the fewer regulations a country has, the higher they score. Investors and CEOs use the rankings to decide where to move their money or headquarter their businesses for maximum profit. There’s even an iPhone app that jet-setting capitalists can use to redirect their investments on the fly. A new minimum wage law was just passed in Haiti? Better move your sweatshop to Cambodia! Higher taxes on the rich in South Africa? Time to sell your stocks and invest in Ireland instead! By providing a panopticon of knowledge about regulatory policies all over the world, the Doing Business rankings give investors an incredible amount of power. Countries are forced to respond by cutting regulations to make themselves more attractive to the barons of global capital. A special online ‘reform simulator’ shows how each country can improve their ranking by, say, slashing corporate taxes or legalising land grabs. The Doing Business report has become the World Bank’s most influential publication...
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