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发帖数: 29846 | 1 Obama’s America: US Falls Behind Chile And Jordan In Economic Freedom
Ranking
Guy Bentley
2:27 PM 09/15/2015
The U.S. has tumbled down the world rankings for economic freedom thanks to
the erosion of the rule of law and an onslaught of regulations.
The Fraser Institute places the U.S. as the 16th freest economy in the world
, a sharp decline from second place it once enjoyed back in 2000.
Fred McMahon, chair in Economic Freedom with the Fraser Institute,
attributed the collapse in the rankings to “a weakened rule of law, the so-
called wars on terrorism and drugs, and a confused regulatory environment
have helped erode economic freedom in the United States, which has now
fallen behind more economically free countries such as Qatar, Jordan and the
U.A.E.”
Once seen as a the beacon of economic liberty, America has now fallen behind
many European nations including the U.K., Ireland and Switzerland.
The report examines 157 countries and territories measuring a host of
indicators including “levels of personal choice, ability to enter markets,
security of privately owned property,” and the rule of law.
Hong Kong and Singapore managed to top the list thanks to low tax policies
and light touch regulatory regimes. However, McMahon warns that Hong Kong
shouldn’t rest on its laurels and it could see a slip down the index. “
Hong Kong’s still number one but because democracy is the best safeguard of
freedom, if China, which ranks low in economic freedom, encroaches on Hong
Kong, we can expect Hong Kong’s ranking to fall,” McMahon said.
The report purports to show a strong correlation between economic freedom
and a number of socially desirable outcomes such as rising living standards
and life expectancy. People living in the world’s economically freest
countries average a life expectancy of 80 years while in the economically
least free countries life expectancy is around 63.
Furthermore, economically free countries are substantially wealthier than
their most authoritarian counterparts, with GDP per capita reaching $38,601
compared to $6,986. In a damning verdict on the last decade of economic
policies pursued by Presidents Bush and Obama, the report says:
Nowhere has the reversal of the rising [global] trend in economic
freedom been more evident than in the United States | T*********I
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