>>the difference of a few places probably is smaller than error coefficient if they are not somewhere in 2s or 3s if assuming something Gauss-distributed, which probably is not the case ;-))
Certainly it was noticed when New Zealand fell from first to second place. Oh, the horror. Various explanations ensued, generally accusing other sorts of foreigners who come from places where corruption is the norm.
"... They ne'er cared for us
yet: suffer us to famish, and their store-houses
crammed with grain; make edicts for usury, to
support usurers; repeal daily any wholesome act
established against the rich, and provide more
piercing statutes daily, to chain up and restrain
the poor. If the wars eat us not up, they will; and
there's all the love they bear us."
-- Shakespeare: Coriolanus, Act 1, scene 1
