Economic Freedom: Where does USA Rank?

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jason C. Winn/Released)

You may be surprised at how far you need to scan your finger down the list to locate the United States in the Economic Freedom of the World: 2017 Annual Report co-published by the Cato Institute, the Fraser Institute in Canada and more that 70 think tanks around the world. The United States, which has held a spot in the top ten for decades, now ranks 11^th.

Going back to the period 1980-2000, the U.S. was an economic beast, generally ranked 3^rd freest economy in the world behind Hong Kong and Singapore. And then came the decline. After the U.S. ranked 2^nd in 2000 it’s been mostly downhill from there.

It only took five years to fall to 8^th in 2005 and another five years to drop to a pathetic 19^th in 2010.

Why does this matter? Well, the index “measures the degree to which the policies and institutions of countries are supportive of economic freedom,” as the report explains, “cornerstones are personal choice, voluntary exchange, freedom to enter markets and compete, and security of the person and privately-owned property.”

The top ten freest countries in 2017, like a broken-record, are once again Hong Kong and Singapore, followed by New Zealand, Switzerland, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Mauritius, Georgia, Australia, and Estonia.

You can view the full report here.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

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E.J. Smith is the Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH, where he completed course-work in Practical and Defensive Handgun, Conceal Carry Pistol, Shotguns, Precision Scope Rifle and Kidnapping Prevention. E.J. plays a Yamaha Recording Custom drum set with Zilldjian cymbals. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zilldjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@youngresearch.com. Sign up here to receive all the best content from Richardcyoung.com each week.