From Insider Online:
Economic Freedom and Prosperity Take a Hit
Economic freedom matters for prosperity and unfortunately it continues to decline from its 2008 peak, says the 2012 Index of Economic Freedom. The average country score in this year’s Index declined 0.2 points to 59.5. The Index, published Thursday by the Wall Street Journal and The Heritage Foundation, ranks countries in ten categories of economic freedom with 100 being the highest possible score. The average country score in the Index of Economic Freedom has now declined 0.7 points from its all time high of 60.2 in 2008.
The score for the United States declined 1.5 points to 76.3 percent, largely reflecting continued increases in government spending. The countries with the biggest declines in economic freedom were Greece, which lost 4.9 points; Equatorial Guinea, 4.7; Saudi Arabia, 3.7; and Argentina, 3.7. Zimbabwe achieved the highest increase of 4.2 points, though it has a long way to go: In spite of the big increase, Zimbabwe remains second to last among the 179 ranked countries, with a score of 26.3. Guinea-Bissau achieved the second-highest increase. Its gain of 3.6 points gives the country a score of 50.1, just barely moving Guinea-Bissau from the “Repressed” category to “Mostly Unfree.”
Hong Kong, as it has been since the Index was first published in 1995, is rated the most economically free country in the world, with a score this year of 89.9. New to the top 10 economically free countries is Mauritius, which comes in eighth with a score of 77.0. Mauritius now ranks ahead of the United States, which remains tenth. Mauritius has come a long way; it was only the 72d most economically free country in the world a decade ago. Its ranking this year is the highest ranking ever by a Sub-Saharan African country.
This year’s data again confirm that the most economically free countries are the most prosperous ones:
Economic Freedom and Prosperity Take a Hit
Economic freedom matters for prosperity and unfortunately it continues to decline from its 2008 peak, says the 2012 Index of Economic Freedom. The average country score in this year’s Index declined 0.2 points to 59.5. The Index, published Thursday by the Wall Street Journal and The Heritage Foundation, ranks countries in ten categories of economic freedom with 100 being the highest possible score. The average country score in the Index of Economic Freedom has now declined 0.7 points from its all time high of 60.2 in 2008.
The score for the United States declined 1.5 points to 76.3 percent, largely reflecting continued increases in government spending. The countries with the biggest declines in economic freedom were Greece, which lost 4.9 points; Equatorial Guinea, 4.7; Saudi Arabia, 3.7; and Argentina, 3.7. Zimbabwe achieved the highest increase of 4.2 points, though it has a long way to go: In spite of the big increase, Zimbabwe remains second to last among the 179 ranked countries, with a score of 26.3. Guinea-Bissau achieved the second-highest increase. Its gain of 3.6 points gives the country a score of 50.1, just barely moving Guinea-Bissau from the “Repressed” category to “Mostly Unfree.”
Hong Kong, as it has been since the Index was first published in 1995, is rated the most economically free country in the world, with a score this year of 89.9. New to the top 10 economically free countries is Mauritius, which comes in eighth with a score of 77.0. Mauritius now ranks ahead of the United States, which remains tenth. Mauritius has come a long way; it was only the 72d most economically free country in the world a decade ago. Its ranking this year is the highest ranking ever by a Sub-Saharan African country.
This year’s data again confirm that the most economically free countries are the most prosperous ones:
See also the new 2012 Index of Economic Freedom Web site, which lets you dig into the raw data and make you own charts.
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