Economic Freedom

— Jan 1, 1999
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In its simplest form, economic freedom involves the freedom to make choices, freedom of exchange, and protection of private property. Any major impediment to the exercise of these rights as a result of intervention by government is a violation of economic freedom. The freest of economies will operate with a minimal amount of government interference, relying upon personal choice and markets.

— Jan 1, 1998
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More than a decade ago, Michael Walker, the Executive Director of The Fraser Institute in Vancouver, Canada, and Nobel laureate Milton Friedman organized a series of conferences with the objective of clearly defining and measuring economic freedom. They were able to attract some of the world's leading economists including Gary Becker, Douglass North, Peter Bauer, and Assar Lindbeck to participate in the series and provide input for the study.

— Jan 1, 1997
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This report is a continuation of an ongoing process designed to develop a comprehensive and accurate measure of economic freedom across countries. The roots of the project go back more than a decade.

— Jan 1, 1996
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The central elements of economic freedom are personal choice, protection of private property, and freedom of exchange. The goal of this study is to construct an index that is (a) a good indicator of economic freedom across countries and (b) based on objective components that can be updated regularly and used to track future changes in economic freedom.

— Jan 1, 1996
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For the past two decades Canadian politicians of all stripes have told us that it's time to stop "mortgaging our future." They've talked about the unfairness of saddling future generations with a massive public debt, and they've talked about the need to correct the deep flaws inherent in our welfare state entitlements.

— May 1, 1993
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Most of you do not want to spend a lot of time learning new terms, memorizing formulas, or mastering details that are important only to professional economists. What you want are the insights of economics that really matter-those that will help you make better personal choices and enhance your understanding of our complex world.

— Feb 1, 1993
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This is the second book in a series of ongoing discussions exploring economic freedom. This book surveys the philosophical roots of economic freedom, examining the writings of John Locke, Milton Friedman, and Murray Rothbard in an attempt to set the conceptual basis for the measurement.