We used to be 3:
The Cato Institute released its annual report on the Economic Freedom of the World for 2013. This report, started in 1996 with data reaching back to 1980, measures “the consistency of the institutions and policies of various countries with voluntary exchange and the other dimensions of economic freedom.” Notable in this year’s report is that global economic freedom rose slightly, while the United States’ rating declined slightly in 2011, the most recent year for which data is available…
Nations scoring in the top quartile had an average gross domestic product per capita more than eight times higher than nations in the bottom quartile, with the average income of the nation’s poorest 10 percent being 11 times higher in the top quartile. Life expectancy is nearly two decades longer in free nations than unfree nations. (More)
The thing that has stolen our freedom is the pressure that corporations place on the government with their lobbyists. That’s why we’re not as free anymore: the government has had to step in to save us from Wall Street.
Self-governance is something that corporations need to start practicing more often, and very quickly.
The government should not have to step in “to save us from Wall Street”.
A Wall Street with integrity is the answer.
“A Wall Street with integrity is the answer.”
We’ll never get that, and the current recession is testament to that fact.
So, your point is that it isn’t the governments fault that they screw everything up because corporations are telling them to? Isn’t that akin to saying violent movies are the cause of violence? How about we have a little accountability here. Government screwed it up, it is governments fault.
The government shouldn’t have stepped into the corporate arena to begin with.
But, when you have CEO’s who bankrupt a company, receive $100’s millions from taxpayers to be bailed out, and yet, 100’s of employees received bonuses? And the CEO walks away with a severance in the 10’s of millions?
That is the kind of behavior that corporations cannot continue to do. Or else, the wonderful congressional “consultants” will find a costly/inefficient/illogical “fix”, in form of restrictive policy that stifles innovation and economic growth.
If Republicans didn’t listen to corporate interests so much then we wouldn’t need Democrats to counteract their bad policies. Republican governments screw it up and Democratic ones fix it. Thank god the voters are finally figuring this out.
People speak of America no longer having an entrepreneurial spirit, and this is why. It’s hard to start a new business when you have miles of red tape to get through.
Found on page to of http://www.ncpathinktank.org/pdfs/fiscalcliff/LB_010113_HR8.pdf
“Disproportionately Impacts Small Businesses: The legislation would allow increased tax rates for many small businesses, while providing some large corporations with tax breaks through the “extenders” package. These include tax breaks for wind energy, motorsports racing tracks, film and television productions, and cellulosic biofuels production.”
This does nothing to address how equitable the systems are, though I suspect that freer systems are more equitable than unfree ones as it reduces the impact that special interests have in protecting their business through legal and regulatory means.
Equitable in what way? Social justice? I think the point is measuring equality of opportunity.
Yes, as in Social Justice. The point of equity is not equality, but instead making sure that people receive the same pay for the same work. Under an equitable system, a CEO will still receive more than an employee, but it won’t be 500 times more because the CEO’s work is not worth 500 times that of the employee.
The more equitable a system is, the more opportunity is available to those in the system as they are not as reliant on a few small groups or the government to make their living. Part of achieving equity is making sure that people are not bogged down in legal or regulatory matters as then it limits their ability to provide for themselves, and leaves them beholden to those with special education and skills.
The information on life expectancy is surprising and I wish there was info on why economic freedom correlates to it.
Because freedom gives you the opportunity to provide for yourself at the lowest possible cost.
We’ll continue sliding down the slope if people keep voting the way they are. I wouldn’t be surprised if we were 20th next year.
Voter competency test!- Much needed
I wouldn’t count on it changing, democracy is an inherently flawed system.
Which is why Constitutional Monarchy and Aristocracy are better. Aristotle makes that clear.
There is difference between economic freedom and political freedom. Political scientists often devalue economic freedom, because they believe the power to select our political leaders is more important than the results when politicians pander to the whims of constituents who want services at no cost. The result is deslinig economic freedom.