[North-NV-Greens] Fwd: [ALD] U.S. Drops Out of Top 10 'Freest' Economies

[Paul Etxeberri]

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>Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2005 18:05:46 -0600
>Subject: [ALD] U.S. Drops Out of Top 10 'Freest' Economies
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>U.S. Drops Out of Top 10 'Freest' Economies
>January 5, 2005 1:32PM
>
>The Heritage Foundation, which promotes low taxes and limited 
>government regulation, reports the United States is tied for 12th 
>place with Switzerland in the 2005 Index of Economic Freedom. The 
>world's second-largest economy, Japan, ranks 39th in the survey. The 
>report shows "a net increase in global economic freedom" overall.
>
>The United States has dropped out of the world's top 10 "freest 
>economies" in a ranking released Tuesday by the conservative 
>Heritage Foundation.
>
>The organization, which promotes low taxes and limited government 
>regulation, said the United States was tied for 12th place with 
>Switzerland in the 2005 Index of Economic Freedom.
>
>Hong Kong retained its top ranking in the survey, followed by 
>Singapore, Luxembourg and Estonia. Ireland and New Zealand tied for 
>fifth place, followed by Britain, Denmark, Iceland and Australia in 
>the top 10. Chile ranked 11th.
>
>"Perhaps the greatest surprise in this year's index is the failure, 
>for the first time, of the United States to make the top 10," the 
>Washington-based research group said.
>
>"Although its score remains unchanged from last year, and it is 
>still classified as free, the United States -- now in a tie for 12th 
>place with Switzerland -- has been 'treading water,' according to 
>the editors, and hence has been surpassed by countries willing to 
>open their economies still further."
>
>
>The report, compiled with the Wall Street Journal, "demonstrates 
>that the countries with the greatest degrees of economic freedom 
>also enjoy the highest living standards," Heritage said.
>
>"During the last nine years, countries that have done the most to 
>improve their scores on the index's 10 measures of economic freedom 
>have, in general, experienced the highest rates of economic growth. 
>Iceland, for example, has improved steadily, producing a compound 
>growth rate of 3.5 percent."
>
>The report showed "a net increase in global economic freedom" 
>overall in the global economy, with 86 scoring better this year than 
>last year and 57 countries getting lower scores.
>
>Overall, 17 countries are classified as having "free" economies, 56 
>as "mostly free," 70 as "mostly unfree" and 12 as "repressed."
>
>The criteria used include free trade, taxes, government intervention 
>in the economy, monetary policy, capital flows and foreign 
>investment, property rights and informal market activity.
>
>Among European nations outside the top 10, Germany ranked 18th, 
>Italy 26th and France 44th.
>
>Japan, the world's second-largest economy, ranked 39th in the survey.
>
>The Asia-Pacific region offered sharp contrasts, with the two 
>highest-ranked economies but also the two lowest-rated countries in 
>the world, Myanmar and North Korea.
>
>Story Source:
>http://business.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=144.4246992


-- 
Paul Etxeberri

"Forests precede civilizations and deserts follow"   ---Chateaubriand
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