“No other system—and many have been tried—comes close to the record of free-market capitalism in promoting growth and empowering human flourishing. The undeniable link between economic freedom and prosperity is a striking demonstration of what people can do when they have maximum opportunity to pursue their own interests within the rule of law. However, as we are currently seeing around the globe, that freedom is never guaranteed, and can vanish in a heartbeat,” said the index’s authors Terry Miller, Anthony Kim, James Roberts and Patrick Tyrrell.
Americans are already feeling the pain of decreased economic freedom at home. The United States also fell from 20th to 25th in the 2022 global rankings—its lowest ranking ever, The Heritage Foundation said in a press release.
Despite being driven lower by a sharp decrease in its fiscal health score, the Biden administration is still barreling full steam ahead to implement a socialist agenda that would add trillions to the debt, hike taxes, and centralise more federal power over the economy. Meanwhile, Americans are suffering from record inflation and supply chain disruptions, the organisation said.
The index editors lay the blame for declining economic freedom around the world on one major factor: unwise policies addressing the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Most every economy included in the 2022 Index experienced negative growth in 2020, which is not surprising given that so many of the actions that governments have taken in the name of protecting public health have also reduced economic freedom. These restrictions have exacted a cost in terms of human well-being that must be added to the enormous cost of the death toll from the disease itself,” said the editors.
Singapore maintained its status as the world’s freest economy, but the top 10 countries saw substantial reshuffling. Amidst sustained severe lockdowns, Australia dropped out of the ‘free’ category for the first time since 2006, and New Zealand dropped to fourth place, behind Switzerland and Ireland.
There were several countries that made positive gains in the index, including Taiwan, Luxembourg and Estonia, which all jumped in the rankings to join the ‘free’ category for the first time.
Economic freedom remained almost non-existent in China. Increased intervention and aggression in Hong Kong, threats against Taiwan, the persecution of the Uyghurs and other religious groups have led to a broad decline in trust and continue to destabilise global relationships.
In 2021, Washington-based The Heritage Foundation removed perennially top-ranking Hong Kong from the index.
The Heritage Foundation has been leading the American conservative movement since its founding in 1973.
ALCHEMPro News Desk (DS)
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