Economic Freedom of the World: 2003 Annual Report

This 7th global economic freedom report, by James Gwartney and Robert Lawson, ranks 123 nations for 2001, the most recent year for which data are available. The report also updates data in earlier reports in instances where data have been revised. The key ingredients of economic freedom are personal choice, voluntary exchange, freedom to compete, and protection of the person and property. Economic freedom liberates individuals and families from government dependence and gives them charge of their own future.Empirical research shows this spurs economic growth by unleashing dynamism. It also leads to democracy and other freedoms as people are unfettered from government dependence. This is the most comprehensive economic freedom measure in the world, and the only one that uses reproducible measures appropriate for peer-reviewed research.

The first Economic Freedom of the World Report, published in 1996, was the result of a decade of research by more than 100 leading scholars, including several Nobel Laureates, in a broad range of fields, from economics to political science and from law to philosophy. The Fraser Institute coordinates the Economic Freedom reports along with the Economic Freedom Network, a collaboration of member institutes in 59 nations.