The United States plunged to an all-time low ranking on the 2023 iteration of the conservative Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom.
By Washington Examiner – Ryan King
Feb 27, 2023
As economic freedom ticks down globally, the United States dipped 1.5% on the index from 2022 and remained in 25th place, marking its lowest score since the index was created in 1995. The Heritage Foundation cited ballooning deficit levels and the Biden administration’s business policies in its release of the rating Monday.
“This year’s ‘Index of Economic Freedom’ reveals just how fragile the world’s economy has become. The world and América are at a crossroads. Too many countries have renounced basic economic principles leaving communities to suffer the consequences,” Kevin Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation, said in a statement.
Overall, the United States scored 70.6, which is below the top score of 83.9 claimed by Singapore. While the U.S. made progress on trade freedom and labor freedom relative to 2022, the country dipped in most other metrics. Its worst score came from government spending, which earned the U.S. a score of 49.3.
“Three-year government spending and budget balance averages are, respectively, 41.1 percent and –10.3 percent of GDP. Public debt equals 128.1 percent of GDP,” the index noted .
The U.S. cratered from 20th place to 25th place in 2022 on the metric, when it scored 72.1. However, other countries saw downward pressure in 2023, helping to prevent a further slide in the latest rating relative to other nations.
Globally, economic freedom notched down from 60.0 to 59.3, marking its lowest level on the index in the past two decades, prompting the foundation to deem the world economy “mostly unfree.”
As in 2022, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, Sudan, and Zimbabwe reclaimed their status as the least free economies in the world. Also low on the index is China, which earned a name-drop from Anthony Kim, a research fellow and editor of the index.
“The ‘repressed’ economy of the Communist Chinese Party ranked 154th out of 176 countries. The country’s low rating exposes a badly flawed economic and political governance model that has been unambiguously elevated over the past five years by the authoritarian political ideology,” Kim said.
Meanwhile, in addition to Singapore, the top countries included Switzerland, followed by Ireland, Taiwan, and New Zealand.
Regionally, the U.S. ranks third on the index behind Canada, which is first at 73.7, and Chile, second at 71.1.
“On these critical public policy implications, it should be reminded that economic freedom — not the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) agenda — makes América and the world cleaner, safer, and better governed,” Kim added.
“The true path to ensuring environmental, social, and governance improvements lies in focusing on policies that enhance economic freedom.”
…
Read More: Washington Examiner – US plunges to all-time low on Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom
…