Study
| EST. READ TIME 1 MIN.Bahrain ranked highest for economic freedom in Arab world, Kuwait and Lebanon tied for second
Economic freedom is based on the cornerstones of personal choice, voluntary exchange, freedom to compete, and security of private property. Research shows that individuals living in countries with high levels of economic freedom enjoy higher levels of prosperity, greater individual freedoms, and longer life spans.
The Economic Freedom of the Arab World: 2009 Annual Report compares and ranks Arab nations in five economic freedom areas: size of government; commercial and economic law and security of property rights; access to sound money; freedom to trade internationally, and the regulation of credit, labour, and business.
The report measures at least some areas of economic freedom in 22 nations but due to data limitations, calculations of the overall level of economic freedom are only available for 15 jurisdictions: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
The report, which has been published since 2005 in partnership with the International Research Foundation (IRF) of Oman, is an outgrowth of the Fraser Institute's annual Economic Freedom of the World report, which ranks the economic freedom levels of 141 nations around the globe.
-
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 -
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 -
Fred McMahon
Resident Fellow, Dr. Michael A. Walker Chair in Economic Freedom