Ross Emmett and Steve Slivinski — What Policies Hurt Business?

Alex Aragona chats with Ross Emmett and Steve Slivinski as they explore the policies that can hurt businesses, and their work on the Doing Business North America index.

References from Episode 80 with Ross Emmett and Steve Slivinski

• Ross Emmett and Stephen Slivinski are directors of the Doing Business North America project. Their 2020 report forms the basis of this episode and can be found at their website at this link.
• Here is a link to the Doing Business Report by the World Bank that was briefly mentioned in the podcast. 
• You can read the Philadelphia Inquirer’s article on the barriers of doing business in Philadelphia here.
• An in-depth explanation of the DBNA’s methodology and business categories is available for reading at this link.
• The DBNA Land Use index was inspired by The Wharton Residential Land Use Regulatory Index, which can be accessed here. 
• Here are the recent rankings of the DBNA report, which includes a comparison of the performance in cities in Canada, Mexico, and the United States (including the top five and five lowest-performing cities).
• You can interact with the data collected by DBNA at this link.
• Virginia Postrel’s book, The Future and its Enemies: The Growing Conflict Over Creativity, Enterprise, and Progress, can be purchased on Amazon Canada at this link.
• Here is an article on the Bootleggers and Baptists problem coined by Bruce Yandle.