 |
| Economic Freedom Index, 2005 - Selected Countries |
|
|
| 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 |
|
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. |
