World Bank’s “Doing Business Index,” a Thorn for Kleptocrats, Must Be Protected

For nearly two decades, the World Bank’s finest and most operative product has been its Ease of Doing Business Index. With 10 clear measurements, such as how easy it is to pay taxes or get electricity, it has informed decision-makers in business how easy or difficult it is to work in 190 countries. It has also told the governments in those countries what they need to do to improve their business environments. No World Bank tool has had as great and positive an impact in promoting reforms and defeating corruption. Therefore, naturally, it has been controversial.

Numerous leaders have boasted about how their state administration have become less burdensome and more effective as they have risen on this scale. The top six performers in 2020 are not surprising: New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Denmark, South Korea, and the United States. But rookies are Georgia (7) and Lithuania (11) that have greatly improved their business environments guided by this…

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