Economic Freedom

Alberta has the highest level of economic freedom among all Canadian provinces and U.S. and Mexican states, finds a new study by Dean Stansel, José Torra, and Fred McMahon. This study, Economic Freedom of North America 2014, ranks jurisdictions based on their levels of economic freedom (measured in size of government, taxation, regulation, rule of law, etc.) using data from 2012, the most recent year of available data. It spotlights the 50 U.S. states, 32 Mexican states and 10 Canadian provinces.

Once again, Canada ranks among the world’s most economically free countries, ranking seventh overall according to the Fraser Institute’s annual Economic Freedom of the World report, released today at an international event in Brussels. The report measures the economic freedom (levels of personal choice, ability to enter markets, security of privately owned property, rule of law, etc.) by analyzing the policies and institutions of 151 countries and Hong Kong.

Higher levels of economic freedom can help reduce the risk of violent conflict in countries around the world, finds a new study by Fred McMahon, Indra de Soysa, and Krishna Chaitanya Vadlamannati.

The essay, Free Markets and Civil Peace, examines the relationship between economic freedom, which is measured by several factors (trade openness, level of government involvement in the economy, level of judicial independence), and civil unrest.