Canada seems to have barely made it into the “Free” category of countries in this year’s Index of Economic Freedom. The good news is that we beat Botswana.
According to the authors of the study, The Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal “there are many theories about the origins and causes of economic development, the findings of this study are straightforward: The countries with the most economic freedom also have higher rates of long-term economic growth and are more prosperous than are those with less economic freedom.”
“Free Countries” (economically)
[…]
14. Sweden
15. Finland
16. Canada
17. Netherlands
“Mostly Free”
18. Germany
19. Austria
20. Bahrain
21. Belgium
22. Cyprus
23. Lithuania
24. El Salvador
25. Bahamas
26. Italy
27. Taiwan
28. Latvia
29. Malta
30. Norway
31. Spain
32. Barbados
33. Czech Republic
34. Israel
35. Hungary
36. Slovak Republic, The
37. Botswana
The 2005 Index of Economic Freedom measures 161 countries against a list of 50 independent variables divided into 10 broad factors of economic freedom. Low scores are more desirable. The higher the score on a factor, the greater the level of government interference in the economy and the less economic freedom a country enjoys.
These 50 variables are grouped into the following categories:
Trade policy,
Fiscal burden of government,
Government intervention in the economy,
Monetary policy,
Capital flows and foreign investment,
Banking and finance,
Wages and prices,
Property rights,
Regulation, and
Informal market activity.
PTBC was founded by Mr. Johannesen in 2000.
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