The annual Fraser Institute report on world economic freedom may confirm what a lot of Canadians have been noticing: we’re now much more free than our American friends, at least by the measurements tracked in this series of rankings (PDF):
- In the chain-linked index, average economic freedom rose from 5.30 (out of 10) in
1980 to 6.88 in 2007. It then fell for two consecutive years, resulting in a score of
6.79 in 2009 but has risen slightly to 6.83 in 2010, the most recent year available.
It appears that responses to the economic crisis have reduced economic freedom
in the short term and perhaps prosperity over the long term, but the upward
movement this year is encouraging.- In this year’s index, Hong Kong retains the highest rating for economic freedom,
8.90 out of 10. The other top 10 nations are: Singapore, 8.69; New Zealand, 8.36;
Switzerland, 8.24; Australia, 7.97; Canada, 7.97; Bahrain, 7.94; Mauritius, 7.90;
Finland, 7.88; and Chile, 7.84.- The rankings (and scores) of other large economies in this year’s index are the United
Kingdom, 12th (7.75); the United States, 18th (7.69); Japan, 20th (7.64); Germany,
31st (7.52); France, 47th (7.32); Italy, 83rd (6.77); Mexico, 91st, (6.66); Russia, 95th
(6.56); Brazil, 105th (6.37); China, 107th (6.35); and India, 111th (6.26).- The scores of the bottom ten nations in this year’s index are: Venezuela, 4.07;
Myanmar, 4.29; Zimbabwe, 4.35; Republic of the Congo, 4.86; Angola, 5.12;
Democratic Republic of the Congo, 5.18; Guinea-Bissau, 5.23; Algeria, 5.34; Chad,
5.41; and, tied for 10th worst, Mozambique and Burundi, 5.45.- The United States, long considered the standard bearer for economic freedom
among large industrial nations, has experienced a substantial decline in economic
freedom during the past decade. From 1980 to 2000, the United States was generally
rated the third freest economy in the world, ranking behind only Hong Kong and
Singapore. After increasing steadily during the period from 1980 to 2000, the chainlinked
EFW rating of the United States fell from 8.65 in 2000 to 8.21 in 2005 and
7.70 in 2010. The chain-linked ranking of the United States has fallen precipitously
from second in 2000 to eighth in 2005 and 19th in 2010 (unadjusted ranking of 18th).
