U.S. Economic Freedom – No Longer in Top Ten

[Euroconservativ]

"Freest economy" is a euphemism for right-wing economy. Being less free is a good thing.

"socialist" Denmark is 10th:

business freedom 98.1
labour freedom 91.2

"Denmark’s regulatory environment remains one of the world’s most efficient. Starting a business takes only four procedures, and minimum capital requirements have been reduced. Relatively flexible hiring and dismissal regulations sustain an efficient labor market"

Italy, France and Spain rank 86th, 70th and 49th in this ranking. Germany, Austria, Scandinavians do very well in Heritage and Cato rankings.

 

[Stephanie]

The report is total bullshit. Conservative America has been working hard to funnel money to the upper-class for years. Big government is a deception.

yawn
who are the top ten richest in Congress?

 

[Stephanie]

this is Liberal America plans for you

 

[HelenaHandbag]

What I find most ironic about this topic is the common assumption that greater economic freedom facilitates concentration of power, when in fact it does the opposite.

Part and parcel with true capitalism (which promotes competition and trusted and fair markets) and and a robust economy is a strong central government that has multiple processes in place to assure that corruption is kept to a minimum. Conservatives in this country have been doing their very best to make sure that is not the case. From Citizen's United to the dilution of multiple regulations, to the weakening of regulators themselves, conservatives have been trying to gear an environment where the very rich make the rules.

That is what is creating a new "Gilded Age" in this country.

Central government keeps corruption to a minimum!

What's jaw-dropping is that a lot of liberals really believe that.

 

[Listening]

Conservatism is the biggest limiting factor of economic freedom in the US.

What I find most ironic about this topic is the common assumption that greater economic freedom facilitates concentration of power, when in fact it does the opposite.

Part and parcel with true capitalism (which promotes competition and trusted and fair markets) and and a robust economy is a strong central government that has multiple processes in place to assure that corruption is kept to a minimum. Conservatives in this country have been doing their very best to make sure that is not the case. From Citizen's United to the dilution of multiple regulations, to the weakening of regulators themselves, conservatives have been trying to gear an environment where the very rich make the rules.

That is what is creating a new "Gilded Age" in this country.

More and more blathering on the part of someone who rarely posts anything that supports his claims.

Pray-tell, by what crystal ball did you come to realize that the economic expansion under Reagan was somehow a bad thing ?

 

[SwimExpert]

"Freest economy" is a euphemism for right-wing economy. Being less free is a good thing.

If the only thing you can contribute is idiotic left-wing propaganda, maybe you should just stay home and join a circle jerk. Otherwise, actually take a look at the article and the chart posted. Countries with fairly left wing economies like Canada and Denmark are ranked higher than the United States.

 

[SwimExpert]

That could be because we shipped our economy off to India and China.

Or maybe because the business climates in China and India look like a better deal than does that of America's.

Then again, they're ranked 137th and 120th, respectively.

 

[American_Jihad]

America’s Dying Economic Freedom

January 22, 2014 by Arnold Ahlert

For the first time in the 20 years the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal have complied their annual “Index of Economic Freedom,” the United States no longer occupies a spot among the top ten nations. After seven straight years of decline, America comes in at number 12, just behind Estonia. Sadly, America’s decline is occurring even as the level of economic freedom throughout the 186 countries analyzed by the Index has reached record highs.

The Index analyzes four different categories in order to determine a country’s ranking. They are the rule of law, limited government, regulatory efficiency and open markets. The subheadings under those general headings reveal much of the reason the United States continues to decline.

...

All of these interventionist factors have taken their toll. In 2010, for the first time since the Index began keeping track of economic freedom, our nation fell below the cutoff number of 80 on a scale of 1-100. A score of 80 or above separates the “free” economic nations from the “mostly free.” Our score at that time was 78.0, and we have declined steadily ever since.

Now it is 75.5. What it will be by the end of the Obama administration’s second term is impossible to say. But as long as this administration continues to pursue policies aimed at “fundamentally transforming the United States of America,” there is little doubt which direction the nation will be headed for the next three years.

America?s Dying Economic Freedom | FrontPage Magazine

 

[Quantum Windbag]

"Freest economy" is a euphemism for right-wing economy. Being less free is a good thing.

Freedom is slavery.

War is peace.

Ignorance is strength.

Congratulations, you got the job at the Ministry of Truth.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

The report is total bullshit. Conservative America has been working hard to funnel money to the upper-class for years. Big government is a deception.

Sorry, we already filled the position, come back next year.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Read the entire thing

No, forget the pundit's rant and go directly to the Heritage source --I mean, most of us are fully capable of doing our own thinking for ourselves thankyou. That's where we see how the U.S. is number 12 out of a couple hundred independent sovereignties. Now we can look more closely at just those 11 "nations" we're supposed to be competing with--

--and what we're looking at is the U.S. and 11 tiny duchies and principalities. There's no meaningful or useful reason to compare say, Europe's economy with that of Lake Wobegone because only one spans thousands of miles, varied climates, and involves hundreds of millions of people. It makes a lot more sense to look at how the U.S. ranks with countries among populations at least 50M or bigger:

The U.S. is still number one among the grown-ups, and nay-sayers overlook America's power at their own peril.

The US was number 7 on the same list last year, want to try again?

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Conservatism is the biggest limiting factor of economic freedom in the US.

What I find most ironic about this topic is the common assumption that greater economic freedom facilitates concentration of power, when in fact it does the opposite.

Part and parcel with true capitalism (which promotes competition and trusted and fair markets) and and a robust economy is a strong central government that has multiple processes in place to assure that corruption is kept to a minimum. Conservatives in this country have been doing their very best to make sure that is not the case. From Citizen's United to the dilution of multiple regulations, to the weakening of regulators themselves, conservatives have been trying to gear an environment where the very rich make the rules.

That is what is creating a new "Gilded Age" in this country.

The new gilded age of high unemployment, never ending emergency extensions of benefits, and massive government deficits.

 

[Agit8r]

According to the so-called Heritage Foundation, a country in which 85% of land is owned by the government (Singapore) has a higher "Property Freedom" rating than the United States.

This says more about the "conservative movement" than it says about the state of our country

 

[Quantum Windbag]

According to the so-called Heritage Foundation, a country in which 85% of land is owned by the government (Singapore) has a higher "Property Freedom" rating than the United States.

This says more about the "conservative movement" than it says about the state of our country

It says even more about you.

 

[expat_panama]

Read the entire thing

No, forget the pundit's rant and go directly to the Heritage source --I mean, most of us are fully capable of doing our own thinking for ourselves thankyou. That's where we see how the U.S. is number 12 out of a couple hundred independent sovereignties. Now we can look more closely at just those 11 "nations" we're supposed to be competing with--

--and what we're looking at is the U.S. and 11 tiny duchies and principalities. There's no meaningful or useful reason to compare say, Europe's economy with that of Lake Wobegone because only one spans thousands of miles, varied climates, and involves hundreds of millions of people. It makes a lot more sense to look at how the U.S. ranks with countries among populations at least 50M or bigger:

The U.S. is still number one among the grown-ups, and nay-sayers overlook America's power at their own peril.

The US was number 7 on the same list last year, want to try again?

Regardless of the way you're talking about one list while the post you quoted shows two lists, the fact remains that the U.S. ranks #1 among nations bigger than say, California, and the thread is concerned with how the U.S. ranks behind places like the island of Mauritius.

 

[expat_panama]

...a country in which 85% of land is owned by the government (Singapore) has a higher "Property Freedom" rating than the United States...

iirc Switzerland has a similar percentage; at least that's what I'm remembering from a Swiss visiting my office a couple years ago. fwiw, the U.S. gov't owns about a third of U.S. land.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

...a country in which 85% of land is owned by the government (Singapore) has a higher "Property Freedom" rating than the United States...

iirc Switzerland has a similar percentage; at least that's what I'm remembering from a Swiss visiting my office a couple years ago. fwiw, the U.S. gov't owns about a third of U.S. land.

The private property freedom is not about how much property the government owns, it is about how hard it is for the government to steal private property from people.

But, please, keep comparing apples to banana splits.