The best way I know of to compare countries is via the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report.

FORBES: It's Not That the Euro Will Fail, It's That It Should Fail

Every year, the World Economic Forum in Geneva, Switzerland, the same group that holds the high-powered annual meeting in Davos, publishes a Global Competitiveness Report.

FORBES: The Cost Of Corruption

So it is no surprise that the public sector is Brazil's weakest point in the World Economic Forum's latest Global Competitiveness Report, released on September 7th.

ECONOMIST: Brazil��s business environment

The Global Competitiveness Report ranks countries both on hard economic data--such as gross domestic product, inflation, government debt, country credit rating and infant mortality--and on survey opinions from over 11, 000 chief executives and other high-ranking executives in 125 countries.

FORBES: The Cost Of Corruption