America is no longer as economically free as it once was. New regulations and interventionist government policies are leading to less freedom, higher unemployment, and a weaker economy.
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US Drops in Economic Freedom Ranking
@Kayakofan3
Japan has a horribly paralyzed economy. Stock values have lost 75-80% and never recovered. If you think Japan has a "great" economy, clearly you have pathetically low standards or poor judgment.
No, by nearly any measure America has the much better economy.
@Kayakofan3
Yes, people are getting laid off because TAXES ARE TOO HIGH, because there are TOO MANY BURDENSOME REGULATIONS, and because the government spends too much on ill-advised subsidies like unemployment benefits and healthcare benefits for the unemployed. Ill-advised minimum wage laws also create unemployment by artificially raising the cost of labor beyond what a low-skilled employee can provide in value. All the reasons for high unemployment are the fault of government.
@Kayakofan3
No, minimum wage laws prevent businesses from employing people AT ALL. Minimum wage laws destroy jobs, cause unemployment, and bankrupt productive businesses.
Healthcare will get WORSE with the Democrats' plans. Republicans have come up with SUPERIOR ideas that are ALREADY improving healthcare in states like Indiana. It is an absolute LIE to claim that Republicans have not come up with any ideas. That is a LIE that comes from Nasty Pelosi and the other partisan Demoncrat hacks.
@Kayakofan3
No company EVER has total control over anything. The ONLY institution that ever has total control is the GOVERNMENT.
Government is always more to be feared than any business. Any business is always more trustworthy than the government.
@Kayakofan3
Allow individuals to purchase their own insurance across all choices, with their own money, with the same tax breaks big businesses and labor unions get. This makes things fair for all, lowers prices, and encourages responsibility.
@Kayakofan3
All monopolies are products of the government. By reducing the power of government, monopolies are not allowed to occur. There is no such thing as a monopoly under capitalism. All monopolies are caused by not having enough capitalism. Capitalism is the answer for ensuring fair competition and empowering consumers.
Funny how they taught us our whole lives how communism is bad and they are killers; then they have them make our food, clothes, toys and everything else. Then you see them poisoning the products. Like that shit was an accident. Our government is allowing the enemy to kill us outright. I cant wait to see the people playing soccer in the streets with our leaders heads.
@Pbirv
Yes, government DID cause the Great Depression. You have to be quite ignorant to not know that. Government's EXCESSIVE regulation and excessive taxation caused the Great Depression. It was government that drove the economy into the ground and then stomped on it and held it down for another decade. Just like this idiot Obama and the Demoncrats in Congress are doing now.
@Pbirv
If we got rid of minimum wage laws, unemployment would fall. But the spoiled union brats don't want competition, so they'll keep people unemployed with tyrannical minimum wage laws. Just another thing that proves that unions are evil scum.
@Pbirv
No, we have higher taxes and the strictest regulation EVER. You have to be completely ignorant to claim that we aren't excessively overregulated.
@Pbirv
No, government is the cause of all monopolies. Government creates and sustains monopolies.
economic freedom????
Didn't George Bush sign the PATRIOT ACT????
I think the Patriot Act is the true pinnacle of slavery.
2 of the top 3 are socialist.
Capitalism=FAIL
"richest countries are also the most economically free". Ok, but they are rich because they're free or they're free because they're rich?
In most poor countries, taxes are low, gov. spending is low, foreign and national investments receive equal treatment, trade freedom is above world average. They should be high in Heritage's index, but political instability, poor infrastructure, corruption and limited credit mine their economic freedom. No way a poor country can rank high in Heritage index.
@saxonkirwan
None of those countries are socialist. There is no public ownership of most of the means of production in those countries. They are welfare capitalist countries. Hong Kong. Australia, and Singapore have very free markets in most areas.
@L0stInBlue What I'm saying is that Heritage's concept of economic freedom is incompatible with underdevelopment. If low taxes, low government spending, equal treatment to national and foreign investment and trade freedom garanteed economic freedom, countries like Niger, Haiti, Cambodia, and many others would be high in Heritage's ranking.
@L0stInBlue My point is: the concept of 'economic freedom' that libertarians use blends two different aspects. 1) governmental intervention in the economy (taxes, gov. spending, commercial barriers, regulations, protecionism, state owned enterprises, etc.) and 2) the economic efficiency or success of the country (bureaucracy, corruption, effectiveness of the regulations, competency of the labour force, infrastructure, available credit, competitiveness, etc.) (cont.)
@L0stInBlue The second aspect is the one that influences the most in a country's score. That why most poor countries are below 100th. If only the first aspect was considered, Haiti would be together with South Corea or Taiwan in the Heritage's ranking (I'm using Heritage's data, but I'm reading the description of the scores as well).
The countries you mentioned aren't rich but aren't exactly poor, they're emerging nations.
Sorry for the long message.
Heritage Foundation is Koch Bros