July 15, 2004
ANGLOSPHERICS:
Economic Freedom of the World: 2004 Annual Report (Cato.org)
Executive Summary* The index published in Economic Freedom of the World measures the degree to which the policies and institutions of countries are supportive of economic freedom. The cornerstones of economic freedom are personal
choice, voluntary exchange, freedom to compete, and security of privately owned property. Thirty-eight components and sub-components are used to construct a summary index and to measure the degree of economic
freedom in five areas: (1) size of government; (2) legal structure and protection of property rights; (3) access to sound money; (4) international exchange; and (5) regulation.* Hong Kong retains the highest rating for economic freedom, 8.7 of 10, closely followed by Singapore at 8.6. New Zealand, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and United States tied for third with ratings of 8.2. The other top 10 nations are Australia, Canada, Ireland,and Luxembourg. The rankings of other large economies are Germany, 22; Japan and Italy, 36; France, 44; Mexico, 58; India, 68; Brazil, 74; China, 90; and Russia, 114.
* Most of the lowest-ranking nations are African,Latin American,or former communist states. Botswana’s ranking of 18 is by far the best among continental sub-Saharan African nations.Chile,with the best record in Latin America, was tied with four other nations at 22. The bottom five nations were Venezuela, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, and Myanmar. However, a number of other nations for which data are not available, such as North Korea and Cuba,may have even less economic freedom.
The best predictor continues to be a British heritage and the corresponding values. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 15, 2004 9:45 PM
I'll wager Venezuela was in the top 40 just 9 years ago. Not now. Time to fry Hugo.
Posted by: jim hamlen at July 15, 2004 10:52 PMCriteria #1 is misleading. Several of the top states (Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand) do not maintain a large military service, but either rely on the protection of others (the US)or geographical isolation to maintain their freedom and independence. I wonder where the US would rank if you subtract military expenditures from the size of government measure.
Posted by: Robert Duquette at July 16, 2004 4:25 PMGood point, Robert.
Orrin - that University of Michigan "Values" graph is FASCINATING. But I can't find a year for it -- do you know what year it was plotted? For example, I would expect Poland's spot to have moved toward the right in recent years . . . And I was a bit sad to see Taiwan pegged so close to China; I should think it deserved to be closer to where the US in fact sits. I would love to know what the criteria were for plotting coordinates. Can you point me to more information? Anyhow, I'll Google a bit on my own and see what I can find. Thanks!
Posted by: Georgie Gaudi at July 16, 2004 5:16 PMGeorgie:
http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=1511812
Posted by: oj at July 16, 2004 5:29 PMAnd where is Israel?
And how could Taiwan be sitting next to Serbia and Slovakia be considered more "self-expressive?"
Taiwan designs 85 percent of the world's computers, has launched satellites, has the best Chinese food, and has a 2003 per capita GDP that beat China's, Korea's and every other East Asian country except Japan and Singapore.
I have to doubt whether it was treated fairly.
Anbd WHERE'S ISRAEL. Is it right under my nose? Or is it not on the graph? And if it is not, WHY NOT?!
Posted by: at July 16, 2004 5:34 PMThanks, man. You're such a cool guy!
Posted by: GG at July 16, 2004 6:35 PM