According to International Living magazine – no, we had never heard of it either – France is the best place to live.

That surprised us. France is indeed a beautiful country to visit – but a horrible place to do business.

It was interesting that some of the same factors which International Living cited as making France a desirable place to live – such as the lengthy maternity leave – are among the reasons why only an idiot would employ anyone there if given a choice.

Obviously, all these “best place” surveys depend entirely on the factors you happen to choose by which to assess each place and the relative weight you assign to each factor. It is a wholly arbitrary process – which could be manipulated to produce almost any result.

So it is our turn to be arbitrary. With no desired result in mind, here are the factors by which we would assess the “Best Place to Do Business”, in approximate order of priority.

1   Easy access to markets. Obviously.

2   Few regulations and bureaucrats. The two are related but separate: it does not matter so much when a state has a lot of regulations if it employs few bureaucrats to enforce them, but where there are many bureaucrats, they need only a few regulations to make your life a misery.

3   A reasonable tax regime. Note that it is not top – you must make money before keeping it becomes an issue.

4   Rule of law. Honest and effective police and courts are essential for both personal safety and business.

5   Good communications. Both transport and telecommunications – and, above all now, broadband.

6   An efficient service support network. Both public sector and private contractors.