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| EST. READ TIME 2 MIN.Bahrain ranked as most economically free Arab nation; new report shows Arab world weathered global recession better than other regions
This is the seventh report on economic freedom in the Arab world. The first was published by the same authors in the Arab World Competitiveness Report 2005 (Lopez-Claros and Schwab, 2005). The second and subsequent editions were published by the International Research Foundation (IRF) of Oman and the Fraser Institute. In 2008, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty, Cairo office, also became a co-publisher.
The index in this edition adds data for 2008, the most recent year for which data are available. As well, the scores for previous years have been re-calculated using revised data from the World Bank for its Doing Business and World Development Indicators databases. Economic Freedom of the Arab World is modeled on the annual reports in the series, Economic Freedom of the World (Gwartney and Lawson, 2004–2009; Gwartney, Hall, and Lawson, 2010).
The index published in Economic Freedom of the World uses 42 components in five areas. Because underlying data for some of the components used in the world index were not broadly available for the Arab world, they were replaced by similar components with broader coverage of the Arab world. The index published in Economic Freedom of the Arab World includes the same five areas as Economic Freedom of the World but has 39 components. The score for each of the five areas is derived by averaging the components within that area. The most recent data available for this report are from 2008.
The five areas are: 1) Size of Government: Expenditures, Taxes and Enterprises; 2) Commercial and Economic Law and Security of Property Rights; 3) Access to Sound Money; 4) Freedom to Trade Internationally; 5) Regulation of Credit, Labor, and Business.
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Salem Ben Nasser Al-Ismaily
Salen Ben Nasser Al-Ismaily was educated in the United Kingdon and the United States, where he was awarded degrees intelecommunications, liberal arts, industrial engineering and business administration. In 1996, he was a founder of OCIPED (The Omani Centre for Investment Promotion and Export Development), Oman and currently serves as its Vice Chairman and Executive President.… Read more -
Fred McMahon
Resident Fellow, Dr. Michael A. Walker Chair in Economic FreedomFred McMahon is a Fraser Institute Resident Fellow and holder of the Dr. Michael A. Walker Chair in Economic Freedom.He has an M.A. in Economics from McGill University. Mr. McMahon manages the Economic Freedom of the World Project and coordinates the Economic Freedom Network, an international alliance of over 100 think tank partners in about 100 nations and territories. His research focuses on global issues such as development, trade, governance and economic structure. Mr. McMahon is the author of numerous research articles and several books including, Looking the Gift Horse in the Mouth: The Impact of Federal Transfers on Atlantic Canada, which won the Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award for advancing public policy debate, Road to Growth: How Lagging Economies Become Prosperous, and Retreat from Growth: Atlantic Canada and the Negative Sum Economy.He has written for numerous publications including the European Journal of Political Economy, the SAIS Journal (School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University), the Wall Street Journal, Policy Options, National Post, Time (Canada), Globe and Mail, Ottawa Citizen, and most other major Canadian newspapers. Research articles he has recently authored or co-authored include: Economic Freedom of North America, Quebec Prosperity: Taking the Next Step, The Unseen Wall: The Fraser Institute's Annual Trade Survey, and Economic Freedom of the Arab World.… Read more -
Miguel Cervantes
Miguel Angel Cervantes is a former economist in the Fraser Institutes Global Resource Centre and co-author of the annual Surveyof Mining Companies, Global Petroleum Survey, and Economic Freedom of the Arab World report. He holds a bachelor's and masters degree in economics from the University of Texas at El Paso and is also a lecturer at HEC Montréal Business School.… Read more -
Amela Karabegovic
Amela Karabegovi is a former Senior Economist of the Fraser Institute. She holds a B.M. (Great Distinction) in General Managementfrom the University of Lethbridge in Alberta and an M.A. in Economics from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. She was a coauthor of the Economic Freedom of North America , Economic Freedom of the Arab World , Myths and Realities of TILMA , Transparency of Labour Relations Boards in Canada and the United States , Measuring Labour Markets in Canada and the United States , Measuring the Flexibility of Labour Relations Laws in Canada and the United States , Tax and Expenditure Limitations: The Next Step in Fiscal Discipline , and the Prosperity Series-Ontario .… Read more