I think it says a lot about how simplistic those sorts of "ease of doing business" / "economic freedom" surveys are.
Singapore is great by most metrics that are simple to measure, like how many pages a tax return is, how fast the broadband is, how many channels of hi-def television there, how reliable the trains are, how long you have to wait in line to get a driver's license, etc, etc.
However, those are actually very superficial, and more subjective, and ultimately more consequential metrics aren't captured. Things like whether the broadband is censored or not, whether there's anything interesting on TV, whether the locale around any two train stations are any different, how much a car costs once you have your license and whether there's anywhere interesting to drive...
Singapore is a poster child for what happens when you just manage and optimize all the easily measured metrics.
Singapore is great by most metrics that are simple to measure, like how many pages a tax return is, how fast the broadband is, how many channels of hi-def television there, how reliable the trains are, how long you have to wait in line to get a driver's license, etc, etc.
However, those are actually very superficial, and more subjective, and ultimately more consequential metrics aren't captured. Things like whether the broadband is censored or not, whether there's anything interesting on TV, whether the locale around any two train stations are any different, how much a car costs once you have your license and whether there's anywhere interesting to drive...
Singapore is a poster child for what happens when you just manage and optimize all the easily measured metrics.