Show us a link that says the countries near the top have high taxes and a lot of regulations.
Countries near the top have high taxes.
And when it comes to regulation, there's no place I know of on the internet that can show you the number of regulations per nation; rather, it takes a measure of experience and common sense.
For instance, try bribing a cop, a customs official, or a judge in a first-world socialized democracy. What will happen? You know as well as I do that whoever does so will likely spend years in jail. What happens if one does so in third-world nations? It's business as usual - because I have done all three.
If the people who show up to build improvements on your house here in America start welding, and the welders have no protective gear - no gloves, wearing flip-flops and tank tops, no goggles - what happens? The state would shut it down immediately and it would likely make the news, right? Yeah, it probably would...especially since in any first-world socialized democracy, any worker has the RIGHT to demand protective gear, and the boss has the legal obligation to provide it and to make sure it's used.
But when they started welding at my house overseas, this was - again - business as usual. I just so happened to have some welding safety gear and I gave it to the guy. He took the gloves, but he refused the goggles and the leather welding jacket (it was too hot for him to wear). And so it goes with ALL business there - it's the golden rule: he who has the gold, makes the rules...and is above the law. The guy on the bottom gets paid peanuts and is often forced to work in unsafe environments...but he's damn glad to have that job because it's a job. And if he gets injured or killed, oh well, too bad so sad...there's no required coverage for that worker, no fiduciary responsibility by that company. No oversight. And any reporter who is so bold to get it printed in the paper is literally risking his life.
Does this mean that in this particular third-world nation, there are no such regulatory rules governing police, judges, custom officials? No. It means that those rules are largely ignored unless it is to the advantage of the official in question to obey those rules. And why is this? Because the government officials are paid peanuts, too...and the bribes are often necessary for them to feed their own families.
But regulations that are ignored are effectively the same as no regulation at all. And that's precisely what happens when there is little or no regulatory oversight of a corporation:
they will find ways to cut corners at every opportunity up to and including worker safety. It doesn't happen overnight - it happens slowly, gradually, and is eventually entrenched and becomes a way of life.
This is life in third-world nations, guy. This is the way it is - the golden rule is normally the only rule. Life in third-world nations is often BETTER than life in first-world nations...if you've got money. But if you don't have money...well, that's when you find out first-hand why even GREECE has throngs of illegal immigrants who would rather be there than any of the third-world nations on the other side of the Mediterranean.
There is a way to change it - such as
Lee Kuan Yew did for Singapore - but it takes a very strong leader who isn't afraid of confronting the rich and powerful and politically-connected in order to impose true law and order while at the same time avoiding going down the road to true tyranny.
I strongly recommend you go live in a third-world nation for a while. Get to know the people, the good and the bad. It's a real education.