What a bunch of fluff. Criteria such as "ease of doing business" are so subjective they are essentially meaningless. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics as well as the US Small Business Administration, entrepreneurship has been trending downwards for years:

http://tinyurl.com/dyh6hs

I knew this from another article I read awhile ago, and went even further into debunking this myth, but could not find the link. But it does appear that the Economist article lacks substance.