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GLOBAL BUSINESS

 Fighting Crime in Mexico City

Photographer Erik Meza rides with the Federal Police in the Mexican capital as they battle a seemingly endless wave of lawlessness

 Oil in the Sand

In Canada's Alberta Province, Syncrude is mining black gold hand over fist

Photographs for TIME by Todd Korol / Aurora Select

 De Beers' Hidden Gem, Botswana

The famous diamond empire improves its business and brings jobs to Africa

COUNTRY NAVIGATOR

  • United States
  • Capital: Washington D.C.
  • GCI Rank: 1 What's This?

Developed for the World Economic Forum by Professor Xavier Sala-i-Martin, the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) measures the competitiveness of nations using economic statistics and extensive polling of international business leaders.

FEATURED STORIES

United States

Medical Mouse Practice.

Cleveland Clinic pairs medical and tech staff to create Internet tools that improve care and give patients access to their records

Q&A with Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson

Best Buy CEO and Vice-Chairman Brad Anderson talks to TIME's Kristina Dell about competition, acquisitions and expansion.

Myth of the Fearless Entrepreneur

Start-ups aren't as risky as you think. It's the lack of risk-taking that hurts growth


DOING BUSINESS IN UNITED STATES

Problematic Factors

  • Access to financing
  • Restrictive labor regulations
  • Foreign currency regulations
  • Inadequate supply of infrastructure
  • Inefficient government bureaucracy
  • Inadequately educated workforce
  • Poor work ethic in national labor force
  • Policy instability
  • Government instability/coups
  • Crime and theft
  • Corruption
  • Tax regulations
  • Tax rates
  • Inflation
  • 0 10 20 30
  • Percent of responses
United States

How is this data measured?

Note: From a list of 14 factors, respondents were asked to select the five most problematic factors for doing business in their country/economy and to rank them between 1(most problematic) and 5. The bars in the figure show the responses weighted according to their ranking.

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