Thread: Guess Who Got Bumped Off the List of the World's Ten Most Economically Free Countries

Guess Who Got Bumped Off the List of the World's Ten Most Economically Free Countries?




Emily Hulsey
On January 15, 2014
http://IJReview.com

Economic freedom, which is defined as “the fundamental right of every human to control his or her own labor and property,” is at an all-time high for many countries. Unfortunately, the United States is not one of them.

According to the 2014 Index of Economic Freedom, released Tuesday by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. has dropped out of the top ten to the lowest it has been since 1999, behind such countries as Singapore, Chile, Estonia and Switzerland:



This is how the rankings are determined:

For 20 years, the index has measured a nation’s commitment to free enterprise on a scale of 0 to 100 by evaluating 10 categories, including fiscal soundness, government size and property rights. These commitments have powerful effects:

Countries achieving higher levels of economic freedom consistently and measurably outperform others in economic growth, long-term prosperity and social progress. Botswana, for example, has made gains through low tax rates and political stability.

It’s not hard to see why the U.S. is losing ground. Even marginal tax rates exceeding 43% cannot finance runaway government spending, which has caused the national debt to skyrocket. The Obama administration continues to shackle entire sectors of the economy with regulation, including health care, finance and energy. The intervention impedes both personal freedom and national prosperity.

In other words, the Obama administration’s big government approach is interfering with America’s freedom to do business and prosper economically. Inundated with government regulations and intervention, we are becoming less competitive globally and less innovative at home.

There is no excuse for one of the world’s wealthiest nations to fall behind like this. Fortunately, it’s not too late, and a pro-business, government-limiting policy change could make a big difference.

I don’t want the world to look back at our country years from now saying, “Oh, how the mighty have fallen.” However, that’s exactly what could happen if we don’t take these findings seriously.


http://www.ijreview.com/2014/01/1088...ree-countries/

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