Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom Top 10 for 2011

Heritage Foundation ^ | 2011

[SeekAndFind]

Economic freedom is the fundamental right of every human to control his or her own labor and property. In an economically free society, individuals are free to work, produce, consume, and invest in any way they please, with that freedom both protected by the state and unconstrained by the state.

Index of Economic Freedom World Rankings

World Rank	Country	Index Year	Overall Score	Change from Previous	Business Freedom	Trade Freedom	Fiscal Freedom	Government Size	Monetary Freedom	Investment Freedom	Financial Freedom	Property Rights	Freedom From Corruption	Labor Freedom
1	Hong Kong	2011	89.7	0	98.7	90	93.3	89.6	87.1	90	90	90	82	86.2
2	Singapore	2011	87.2	1.1	98.2	90	91.1	91.3	86.2	75	60	90	92	98
3	Australia	2011	82.5	-0.1	90.1	84.4	61.3	64.7	85	80	90	90	87	92.2
4	New Zealand	2011	82.3	0.2	99.9	86.6	64.7	49.3	84.8	80	80	95	94	89.2
5	Switzerland	2011	81.9	0.8	80.2	90	68.4	69.3	83.8	80	80	90	90	87.8
6	Canada	2011	80.8	0.4	96.4	88.1	78	52.7	78.8	75	80	90	87	81.7
7	Ireland	2011	78.7	-2.6	92	87.6	72.1	47.1	80.7	90	70	90	80	77.5
8	Denmark	2011	78.6	0.7	99.7	87.6	43.2	19.5	81.4	90	90	90	93	92.1
9	United States	2011	77.8	-0.2	91	86.4	68.3	54.6	77.4	75	70	85	75	95.7
10	Bahrain	2011	77.7	1.4	77.4	82.8	99.8	80.2	74	75	80	60	51	97

[SeekAndFind]

Ranking the Countries

Distribution of Global Economic Freedom
100-80	79.9-70	69.9-60	59.9-50	49.9-0	N/A
free	mostly free	moderately free	mostly unfree	repressed	not ranked

Index of Economic Freedom World Rankings   (Click on the country name for more details.)

World Rank Country Freedom Score Change from Previous	World Rank Country Freedom Score Change from Previous

1 Hong Kong 89.7 0.0	93 Morocco 59.6 +0.4
2 Singapore 87.2 +1.1	94 Mongolia 59.5 -0.5
3 Australia 82.5 -0.1	95 Ghana 59.4 -0.8
4 New Zealand 82.3 +0.2	96 Egypt 59.1 +0.1
5 Switzerland 81.9 +0.8	97 Swaziland 59.1 +1.7
6 Canada 80.8 +0.4	98 Nicaragua 58.8 +0.5
7 Ireland 78.7 -2.6	99 Honduras 58.6 +0.3
8 Denmark 78.6 +0.7	100 Tunisia 58.5 -0.4
9 United States 77.8 -0.2	101 Serbia 58.0 +1.1
10 Bahrain 77.7 +1.4	102 Cambodia 57.9 +1.3
11 Chile 77.4 +0.2	103 Bhutan 57.6 +0.6
12 Mauritius 76.2 -0.1	104 Bosnia and Herzegovina 57.5 +1.3
13 Luxembourg 76.2 +0.8	105 The Gambia 57.4 +2.3
14 Estonia 75.2 +0.5	106 Kenya 57.4 -0.1
15 The Netherlands 74.7 -0.3	107 Sri Lanka 57.1 +2.5
16 United Kingdom 74.5 -2.0	108 Tanzania 57.0 -1.3
17 Finland 74.0 +0.2	109 Mozambique 56.8 +0.8
18 Cyprus 73.3 +2.4	110 Gabon 56.7 +1.3
19 Macau 73.1 +0.6	111 Nigeria 56.7 -0.1
20 Japan 72.8 -0.1	112 Vanuatu 56.7 +0.3
21 Austria 71.9 +0.3	113 Brazil 56.3 +0.7
22 Sweden 71.9 -0.5	114 Mali 56.3 +0.7
23 Germany 71.8 +0.7	115 The Philippines 56.2 -0.1
24 Lithuania 71.3 +1.0	116 Indonesia 56.0 +0.5
25 Taiwan 70.8 +0.4	117 Benin 56.0 +0.6
26 Saint Lucia 70.8 +0.3	118 Tonga 55.8 +2.4
27 Qatar 70.5 +1.5	119 Malawi 55.8 +1.7
28 Czech Republic 70.4 +0.6	120 Moldova 55.7 +2.0
29 Georgia 70.4 0.0	121 Senegal 55.7 +1.1
30 Norway 70.3 +0.9	122 Côte d'Ivoire 55.4 +1.3
31 Spain 70.2 +0.6	123 Pakistan 55.1 -0.1
32 Belgium 70.2 +0.1	124 India 54.6 +0.8
33 Uruguay 70.0 +0.2	125 Djibouti 54.5 +3.5
34 Oman 69.8 +2.1	126 Niger 54.3 +1.4
35 South Korea 69.8 -0.1	127 Yemen 54.2 -0.2
36 Armenia 69.7 +0.5	128 Tajikistan 53.5 +0.5
37 Slovakia 69.5 -0.2	129 Suriname 53.1 +0.6
38 Jordan 68.9 +2.8	130 Bangladesh 53.0 +1.9
39 El Salvador 68.8 -1.1	131 Papua New Guinea 52.6 -0.9
40 Botswana 68.8 -1.5	132 Algeria 52.4 -4.5
41 Peru 68.6 +1.0	133 Haiti 52.1 +1.3
42 Barbados 68.5 +0.2	134 Mauritania 52.1 +0.1
43 Israel 68.5 +0.8	135 China 52.0 +1.0
44 Iceland 68.2 -5.5	136 Cameroon 51.8 -0.5
45 Colombia 68.0 +2.5	137 Guinea 51.7 -0.1
46 The Bahamas 68.0 +0.7	138 Argentina 51.7 +0.5
47 United Arab Emirates 67.8 +0.5	139 Vietnam 51.6 +1.8
48 Mexico 67.8 -0.5	140 Syria 51.3 +1.9
49 Costa Rica 67.3 +1.4	141 Laos 51.3 +0.2
50 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 66.9 0.0	142 Seychelles 51.2 +3.3
51 Hungary 66.6 +0.5	143 Russia 50.5 +0.2
52 Trinidad and Tobago 66.5 +0.8	144 Ethiopia 50.5 -0.7
53 Malaysia 66.3 +1.5	145 Micronesia 50.3 -0.3
54 Saudi Arabia 66.2 +2.1	146 Nepal 50.1 -2.6
55 Macedonia 66.0 +0.3	147 Bolivia 50.0 +0.6
56 Latvia 65.8 -0.4	148 Burundi 49.6 +2.1
57 Malta 65.7 -1.5	149 Sierra Leone 49.6 +1.7
58 Jamaica 65.7 +0.2	150 São Tomé and Príncipe 49.5 +0.7
59 Panama 64.9 +0.1	151 Guyana 49.4 +1.0
60 Bulgaria 64.9 +2.6	152 Central African Republic 49.3 +0.9
61 Kuwait 64.9 -2.8	153 Togo 49.1 +2.0
62 Thailand 64.7 +0.6	154 Maldives 48.3 -0.7
63 Romania 64.7 +0.5	155 Belarus 47.9 -0.8
64 France 64.6 +0.4	156 Lesotho 47.5 -0.6
65 Cape Verde 64.6 +2.8	157 Equatorial Guinea 47.5 -1.1
66 Slovenia 64.6 -0.1	158 Ecuador 47.1 -2.2
67 Turkey 64.2 +0.4	159 Guinea-Bissau 46.5 +2.9
68 Poland 64.1 +0.9	160 Liberia 46.5 +0.3
69 Portugal 64.0 -0.4	161 Angola 46.2 -2.2
70 Albania 64.0 -2.0	162 Solomon Islands 45.9 +3.0
71 Belize 63.8 +2.3	163 Uzbekistan 45.8 -1.7
72 Dominica 63.3 +0.1	164 Ukraine 45.8 -0.6
73 Namibia 62.7 +0.5	165 Chad 45.3 -2.2
74 South Africa 62.7 -0.1	166 Kiribati 44.8 +1.1
75 Rwanda 62.7 +3.6	167 Comoros 43.8 -1.1
76 Montenegro 62.5 -1.1	168 Republic of Congo 43.6 +0.4
77 Paraguay 62.3 +1.0	169 Turkmenistan 43.6 +1.1
78 Kazakhstan 62.1 +1.1	170 Timor-Leste 42.8 -3.0
79 Guatemala 61.9 +0.9	171 Iran 42.1 -1.3
80 Uganda 61.7 -0.5	172 Democratic Republic of Congo 40.7 -0.7
81 Madagascar 61.2 -2.0	173 Libya 38.6 -1.6
82 Croatia 61.1 +1.9	174 Burma 37.8 +1.1
83 Kyrgyz Republic 61.1 -0.2	175 Venezuela 37.6 +0.5
84 Samoa 60.6 +0.2	176 Eritrea 36.7 +1.4
85 Burkina Faso 60.6 +1.2	177 Cuba 27.7 +1.0
86 Fiji 60.4 +0.1	178 Zimbabwe 22.1 +0.7
87 Italy 60.3 -2.4	179 North Korea 1.0 0.0
88 Greece 60.3 -2.4	N/A Afghanistan N/A N/A
89 Lebanon 60.1 +0.6	N/A Iraq N/A N/A
90 Dominican Republic 60.0 -0.3	N/A Liechtenstein N/A N/A
91 Zambia 59.7 +1.7	N/A Sudan N/A N/A
92 Azerbaijan 59.7 +0.9

[Westbrook]

Nice to see the US listed in the Top 10.

Ninth, just ahead of Bahrain.

Doesn’t that make you feel good?
:/

Time to learn whatever dialect of Chinese they speak in Hong Kong.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

I found a graphical illustration of U.S. freedom under Obamao:

[1rudeboy]

ping

[Democrat_media]

Because of the global warming hoax, the EPA is about to shut down the U.S. economy, The FCC about to censor the internet, FDA etc. and we have economic freedom in the U.S? I say BS.

[Palter]

The Heritage Economic Freedom Index is always a big joke.

They always rank the police state Singapore in the top 3.

One cannot have economic freedom with conscription, state controlled media, no freedom of speech, no freedom of assembly, foreign individuals cannot own landed property, etc.

[snowrip]

I would be interested to see the rankings on other equally pertinent freedoms, such as communication and firearms ownership.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: The Heritage Economic Freedom Index is always a big joke.
They always rank the police state Singapore in the top 3.

One cannot have economic freedom with conscription, state controlled media, no freedom of speech, no freedom of assembly, foreign individuals cannot own landed property, etc.

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Here is how Heritage measures Economic Freedom :

http://www.heritage.org/index/FAQ

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We measure ten components of economic freedom, assigning a grade in each using a scale from 0 to 100, where 100 represents the maximum freedom.

The ten component scores are then averaged to give an overall economic freedom score for each country. The ten components of economic freedom are:

Business Freedom | Trade Freedom | Fiscal Freedom | Government Spending | Monetary Freedom | Investment Freedom | Financial Freedom | Property rights | Freedom from Corruption | Labor Freedom

[EDINVA]

7 of top 10 English speaking.

[EDINVA]

English is an official language of Hong Kong. It is the lingua frnca throughout Asia for businessmen.

[SeekAndFind]

Also, most Swiss can speak English.

[EDINVA]

I don’t think anyone, worldwide, can make it big in business without speaking English. It’s the language of commerce, like it or not.

[Tatze]

IIRC, we had a big drop on that list under Bush as well. Obambi is just making things worse. We need a Palin, Christie, DeMint, Cain, Bachmann, etc to turn us around.

Otherwise, Australia or New Zealand are looking good right about now. I don’t think I could do Hong Kong.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: Otherwise, Australia or New Zealand are looking good right about now. I don’t think I could do Hong Kong.

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Why not Canada? It’s above the USA on that list and just as resource rich as Australia or New Zealand. Also, it’s closer to home.

[Tatze]

Australia and New Zealand are warmer.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Canada has had a horrendous housing bubble. Prices in the metro areas and suburbs are worse than many of the highest price areas in the US. We visited our daughter in Vancouver last October and I was astonished at the California-like prices for housing.

[SeekAndFind]

Speaking of housing bubbles, most Australian cities from Sydney to Melbourne to Adelaide to Perth ( the cities I’ve visited ) are OVER-PRICED IMHO.

And with the Aussie Dollar appreciating to a point where it is now ON PAR with the USD, the prices are almost out of anybody’s reach but the very rich.

Almost all of the above cities are just as pricy or even pricier on average than NYC.

[jwalsh07]

Canadians come to America to purchase health care that they can not purchase in Canada. One would think that alone would make them fail the economic freedom test because when one can’t purchase health care to save one’s life the notion of economic freedom becomes something of a crass joke.