We just read an interesting report called "Doing Business in 2006: Creating Jobs. The World Bank published the report.  You can download it [here].  If you're a budding globe trotting capitalist, pay attention.

 

Here's a description of the report:

"Doing Business in 2006: Creating Jobs is the third in a series of annual reports investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. New quantitative indicators on business regulations and their enforcement can be compared across 155 countries—from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe—and over time...The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where, and why. "

Below are the top ten economies based on the ease of doing business:

1 New Zealand
2 Singapore
3 United States
4 Canada
5 Norway
6 Australia
7 Hong Kong, China
8 Denmark
9 United Kingdom
10 Japan
.

.

. 

80 Greece 

 

DF: That's right folks, 80. Greece is the OECD country that came up with the worst ranking (80) on "Doing Business indicators." This stat probably hurt us the most: Greece ranks third in terms of economies who regulate business start-ups the most -in terms of number of procedures.

 

Does Greece encourage entrepreneurs? Hardly.  In Greece, bankrupt entrepreneurs lose their trading license.

 

On the positive side however, the report did praise Greece as having efficient courts and bankruptcy procedures.

 

Other fun facts:

 

1. It's good to be a working woman in Greece. The mandatory retirement age for men in Greece is sixty-five. For women, it'sfifty eight.

 

2. Slackers should move to  Angola as it's the most difficult country to fire an employee.

 

3. In over half the world, new businesses are still required to announce theirformation in a newspaper or official gazette.

 

4. Entrepreneurs in Serbia and Montenegro can register new businesses online,and if the entrepreneur has not heard from the government in five days, thebusiness can start.  

 

5. If you paid all your business taxes in Sierra Leone, you would pay 164% of grossprofit.