The United States Ranks 7th in Comprehensive New “Freedom Index”

Daniel J. Mitchell

I’ve always been a big fan of Economic Freedom of the World because it provides a balanced and neutral measure of which nations do best in providing free markets and small government.

And I like it even when it gives me bad news. It’s somewhat depressing, after all, to read that the United States has dropped from the #3 nation when Bill Clinton left office to the #18 country in the most recent index.

But for all its many positive attributes, Economic Freedom of the World isn’t a comprehensive measure of liberty. That’s why I’m very glad to see that Ian Vasquez and Tanja Stumberger have put together a Freedom Index designed to measure economic and personal liberty.

And since they’re both sensible people, their definition of personal liberty is very sound – i.e., the freedom to be left alone and not harassed, persecuted, or annoyed by government.

Here’s their description of what the Freedom Index is designed to measure.

Daniel J. Mitchell

Daniel J. Mitchell is a top expert on tax reform and supply-side tax policy at the Cato Institute.

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18 Comments So Far

RayTheAnarchoCapitalist Wrote: Jan 10, 2013 9:36 PM

I note that part of their measurement of security is whether female genital mutilation is illegal, but male genital mutilation is not considered relevant.

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PamBrown Wrote: Jan 10, 2013 6:50 PM

3 functions of government:
1. stealing your money
2. eliminating your freedoms
3. destroying the currency

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RayTheAnarchoCapitalist Wrote: Jan 10, 2013 8:50 PM

Thank you!

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George257 Wrote: Jan 10, 2013 3:10 PM

At least part of the objective measurement of freedom ought to include the percentage of your income that you pay to the government. That would rule out socialist countries or welfare states like the Netherlands, or fore that matter the UK.

How can anyone be free if they pay over 50% of their income to the state? In effect they are at best serfs. (Some people would say slaves, but perhaps that is a slight exaggeration. But only slight.) If you pay 50% in tax, as does almost everyone in Europe, you are working for the government 50% of the time. Or to put it another way, the state has a majority shareholding in you.

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drrisk2 Wrote: Jan 10, 2013 4:05 PM

Serfs belong to the land, slaves belong to the owner and can be sold to anybody at will.

A 50% tax rate is obscene. But the Kenyan is trying to get us there ASAP.

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Formicidae Wrote: Mar 20, 2013 8:22 PM

I wonder where you get your numbers from?

I live in a high tax country (Norway) and I pay 38% on my 1st job, I pay way to much and know it. (But prefer it as I get a high tax return and I see it as a form of saving up). Also those so-called high taxes also pay for my college, hospitable bills, sick pay, maternity leave, continued payment if I should happen to get unemployed - things I never could afford on my regular pay even if I got 90% of it. You can say I'm biased, but I think I am truly free since I don't have to worry about anything other than the present and the own planning of my life.

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rpexplorer Wrote: Jan 10, 2013 10:52 AM

The problem is that the government does not respect (or fear) the public any longer. One observation: Government interest follows the money and the fact that the individual is responsible for paying part of his property to the government means that the government has an interest in the individual. As a general rule, government interest is not a good thing. An example may be Mexico where individuals pay no taxes (other than IVA). Government interest stops at the business level which pays all the taxes leaving the individual to go his own way.

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drrisk2 Wrote: Jan 10, 2013 4:07 PM

"When people fear the government there is tyranny. When the government fears the people there is freedom." ~ Thomas Jefferson

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tmaher Wrote: Jan 10, 2013 8:53 AM

Dan .... More often than not you are bearer of ill tidings.... I have grown up somewhat and have come to appreciate your candor... The unfortunate circumstance is that this survey is based on conjecture and is like trying to nail a fart in a room ...it stinks ,you know its there but you can't isolate it..

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Notredamemom Wrote: Jan 10, 2013 7:56 AM

the Netherlands seems like a good place. Lots of personal freedom and free markets, but also a welfare state to make sure people get humane treatment.

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FletchforFreedom Wrote: Jan 10, 2013 8:47 AM

The Netherlands is such a "good place" that the poor in the US live consistently better than their middle class. They have little economic freedom, a relatively low standard of living and holes in their "safety net". It's a typical example of socialistic "success".

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Sean245 Wrote: Jan 10, 2013 9:53 AM

How you can link humane treatment and a welfare state is beyond me. Go to Detroit and see people on welfare reduced to animals, there’s nothing humane about it. Also the language you use is telling, “treatment” I don’t want treatment from my government like I’m an inmate or a hospital patient. I want personal and economic freedom and a government in the background unobtrusively protecting those freedoms and nothing more.

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Grant75 Wrote: Jan 10, 2013 12:41 PM

Right on!

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TDBLU Wrote: Jan 10, 2013 12:35 PM

Humane treatment. Humane ttreatment is the term used for rescuing mistreated animals. Are these animals then kept, and given this "Humane treatment", on the public's tab, forever ? No. That only encourages more "shelters" (welfare checks), and more "requests for donations", (taxes). A classic self-perpetuating system.

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Chris from Kalifornia Wrote: Jan 10, 2013 7:17 AM

We should be first in freedom. We would be if we had politicians who followed the constitution. We don't have those because the teachers no longer teach reality. They are into teaching esteem rather than ability. The history books are being re-written to support the opposite of what really happened in many cases. The evil people are winning. The republican party is a lost cause with people like John Boehner and Chris Christie. Join the constitution party.

www.constitutionparty.com

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Dan774 Wrote: Jan 10, 2013 6:59 AM

As in all measurements, one must first identify the mores, the culture of this nation—and then conduct a comparative to the standards of our society.
Many of the measurement in this query are so foreign to our design—and our culture, our mores, our morals and our religious identification—that it is moot to even make such comparatives with the nation we are.
It is the problem this nation will always have. We are so exceptional, so different, so enlightened in our culture—that to even make such comparatives is a senseless adventure.

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Sean245 Wrote: Jan 10, 2013 10:01 AM

We used to be all those things; we are now a socialist democracy in the European model. Our exceptionalism started bleeding out long ago and has been in the death throws since the FDR administration. We still have the flag and dead presidents on our currency but our America is buried under hundreds of thousands of pages of regulations and tax code, huge government agencies, racial capitulation and 50% government dependency.

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Barskor Wrote: Jan 15, 2013 2:16 AM

Studies show that 85% of all American house holds receive government support of some type now days. Stick the fork in the turkey is roasted thanks to the two headed one body beast of American politics.

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The United States Ranks 7th in Comprehensive New “Freedom Index”

Daniel J. Mitchell

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