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| Economic Freedom Index,
2005 - Selected Countries (The Fraser Institute) |
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Source: Gwartney, James
/ Lawson, Robert / Sobel, Russell S. / Leerson, Peter T. (2007):
Economic Freedom of the World. 2007 Annual Report. Economic Freedom
Network (The Fraser Institute). ISBN 978-0-88975-221-4
Note: Data downloaded from:
http://www.freetheworld.com/release.html
on May 15, 2008 |
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This index of economic freedom places
China behind India, but ahead of Russia and Pakistan. However, the
country still has a long way to go to reach the economic freedom of
Europe or the United States of America. |
Comment: In light
of recent economic developments some of the rankings applied by the
authors seem to be somewhat strange. After the disaster with
sub-prime loans, not everyone would agree that the United States of
America should have a relatively high rank in "Credit Market
Regulations".
Moreover, some of the logic behind the index is rather biased
towards a US-type economic system. One might argue that somewhat
less freedom in "Labor Market Regulations" is actually
better, not worse, as assumed by the index. The idea that
entrepreneurs can do whatever they wish with their workers
seems to be some kind of 19th century thinking. A mature economy
should have a reasonable level of labor market regulations to avoid
cut-throat capitalism and, as a consequence, extreme polarization of
society. |
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These sections were checked and updated:
September 17, 2005 |
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