The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal recently released their 2014 Index of Economic Freedom. Usually, such lists never really catch my attention. I have little interest in them, considering the sources especially.
However, Ron Paul, in a recent episode on The Ron Paul Channel, pointed out a real takeaway from the most recent Index of Economic Freedom.
First of all, 178 countries are ranked. The most free, according to this index is Hong Kong, with the U.S. coming in at #12. (Again, this is Heritage & WSJ, so take that #12 ranking with the same seriousness that you take the 2% inflation number). Coming in at the very bottom are Cuba at #177 & North Korea at #178.
But here's the part that I find the most interesting, and what Dr. Paul pointed to on his show: At the very bottom, there is a list of countries that didn't make the rankings. Take a look at them, and see if you notice a common theme:
Just about every country listed has been turned into a chaotic pile of rubble. And who, pray tell, made them that way? Why good 'ole #12, of course!
So, not only is the U.S. ranked behind the former Soviet-controlled Estonia in economic freedom on this index. But the U.S. is clearly #1 in turning country after country into a basket-case where calculation isn't even possible.
Hooray for the liberators!!
Let's not forget the contributions of both Heritage and WSJ. For they are both cheerleaders for the liberators. They deserve honorable mentions in helping to add countries to the "Not Ranked" list.
Chris Rossini is on Twitter, Facebook & Google+
This is what the report says about Afghanistan:
ReplyDelete" Real GDP growth, driven mainly by agriculture and construction, has averaged almost 10 percent over the past five years. Large volumes of foreign aid have yielded some improvements in such areas as health and education."
Hooray for the liberators!!
More proof it is a troll. It supports Bush when it fits its agenda, and then supports Obama in the next sentence. It is a troll, sick and disturbed. It should be waterboarded and chained, exposed to the tortuous "freedom" it espouses.
DeleteNo actually Jerry is actually bang on the money (broken clocks etc) because the growth of opium, the basis of heroin has taken off because it the best cash crop in the place and the US military has probably poured thousands times more concrete than has ever been poured in the history of the entire region. Was any of it productive? Not a whisker but since when did GDP measure that?
DeleteAnd as for improvements in health and education, it will all disappear like mist in the bright afghan sun when the Army buggers off.cos even if the Taliban were of a mind to keep that stuff going, they couldn't afford it.anyway.
Great Jerry.... drugs and US tax dollars.....what a great source of economic growth.
DeleteI fully support this production of Heritage and I frequently refer (non-libertarian) friends/family to it. Heritage has a long ways to go and I'm sure Wenzel will tear them apart more in the future, but this is a gem. I believe this list is accurate as authors like Wenzel and Peter Schiff have frequently referenced the players on the top of the list. And, most importantly, it explains 'economic freedom'- a super important aspect of libertarianism and free markets- in a vivid and visually provocative way. We can only hope that the organization does not get (further?) corrupted, causing the list to degenerate in accuracy.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the unrated countries: this is a profound point and something I did not notice in the past, as those countries truly are buried at the very bottom. It'd be nicer if there was an honest explanation as to why they are unrated...
On Heritage I am...agnostic. They do (some) good work.
DeleteI'm more intrigued by the inclusion of Lichtenstein in the bottom 12!
Honest??? Did you actually use the word "honest" for something in which the Wall Street Journal participated? WOW! That's a hallmark moment.
DeleteLook everyone, the words "honest and "Wall Street Journal" - TOGETHER - IN THE SAME POST!
You got guts, kid...
There is no such thing as "economic" freedom. There is only freedom, or tyranny. That's all.
ReplyDeleteNo 12?
ReplyDeleteYeah.....whatever.
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A country that has a IRS/income tax, affirmative action/state-sponsored discrimination, minimum-wage laws, the world's highest ratio of lawyers-to-producers, and Obama and his crony chicagocorrupto-crew should NEVER be rated above the bottom ten.