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| EST. READ TIME 1 MIN.Canada leads North America in economic freedom, tied with Australia for fifth spot globally; U.S. sinks to 18th in international rankings
The index published in Economic Freedom of the World 2012 measures the degree to which the policies and institutions of countries are supportive of economic freedom. The cornerstones of economic freedom are personal choice, voluntary exchange, freedom to compete, and security of privately owned property. Forty-two variables are used to construct a summary index and to measure the degree of economic freedom in five broad areas: (1) size of government; (2) legal system and property rights; (3) sound money; (4) freedom to trade internationally; and (5) regulation.
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James Gwartney
Professor of Economics, Florida State UniversityJames D. Gwartney was a Professor of Economics and the Gus A. Stavros Eminent Scholar at Florida State University. He wasthe coauthor of Economics: Private and Public Choice (Cengage/South-Western Press, 2021), a widely used principles of economics text that is now in its 17th edition. He was also coauthor of an economics primer, Common Sense Economics: What Everyone Should Know about Wealth and Prosperity (St. Martin’s Press, 2016). His publications appeared in both professional journals and popular media such as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. He served as Chief Economist of the Joint Economic Committee of the US Congress during 1999–2000. In 2004, he was the recipient of the Adam Smith Award of the Association of Private Enterprise Education for his contribution to the advancement of free-market ideals. He was a past President of the Southern Economic Association and the Association for Private Enterprise Education. His Ph.D. in economics was from the University of Washington.… Read more -
Robert A. Lawson
Clinical Professor in Economics and Director, Bridwell Institute for Economic Freedom, Southern Methodist UniversityRobert A. Lawson is Clinical Professor in Economics, Jerome M. Fullinwider Centennial Chair in Economic Freedom, and Director of theBridwell Institute for Economic Freedom in the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University. He earned his B.S. in economics from the Honors Tutorial College at Ohio University and his M.S. and Ph.D. in economics from Florida State University. A Senior Fellow at the Fraser Institute, he has numerous professional publications in journals such as Public Choice, Cato Journal, Journal of Labor Research, Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics, and the European Journal of Political Economy. Prof. Lawson has served as President of the Association of Private Enterprise Education and is a member of the Mont Pelerin Society.… Read more -
Joshua C. Hall
Chair of the Department of Economics, West Virginia UniversityJoshua C. Hall, Senior Fellow at the Fraser Institute, is an Associate Dean of Research, Chair of the Department ofEconomics, and Professor of Economics, in the John Chambers College of Business & Economics at West Virginia University. He earned his B.B.A. and M.A. in economics from Ohio University and his Ph.D. from West Virginia University. Prior to returning to his alma mater, he was the Elbert H. Neese, Jr. Professor of Economics at Beloit College. He is currently serving as Part President of the Association of Private Enterprise Education and is also a Senior Fellow at the Fraser Institute. He is the author of over 70 articles in journals such as Contemporary Economic Policy, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Journal of Labor Research, Southern Economic Journal, Public Finance Review, and Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory.… Read more