Land of the Free?

The 2010 Index of Economic Freedom, jointly prepared by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal, has been published. It ranks all the countries of the world according to various kinds of freedoms: business, trade, fiscal, monetary, investment, financial, and labor as well as government size, property rights, and freedom from corruption.

The United States, the "land of the free," ranks eighth on the list, falling from its seventh-place rank in 2009. The top 10 countries (ranked from #1 to #10) with the greatest freedom are: Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Switzerland, Canada, United States, Denmark, and Chile. Interestingly, all of the top 10 countries fell in their total freedom measures (not their rank) over the last year except two: New Zealand and Switzerland. This map illustrates where all the countries of the world rank (darker colors are better): (complete details of all countries, along with the report itself, are viewable at the link above)

One wonders if the voter revolt in Massachusetts earlier this week is a sign that Americans are tired of losing their freedoms to the nanny state.

(New Zealand, tucked away down in the south Pacific, is looking pretty hospitable about now. Road trip, anyone?)