The top ten freest countries in the world

[DriftWood]

The top ten freest countries in the world, according to Heritage Foundation.

Take it with a pinch of salt, but its still very interesting. US is in the top 5 (but it might not in the future, with all this populist protectionism and public spending politics going on. Ron Paul would take it to number 1, if they'd only let him). Chile at number 8 is a bit of a surprise. China is way down at 126 so it got some ways to go still, if its economy is going to catch up with that of Hong Kong and the US.

Hong Kong 1 [90.3]
Singapore 2 [87.4]
Ireland 3 [82.4]
Australia 4 [82.0]
United States 5 [80.6]
New Zealand 6 [80.2]
Canada 7 [80.2]
Chile 8 [79.8]
Switzerland 9 [79.7]
United Kingdom 10 [79.5]

Top 10:
http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/topten.cfm

The whole List:
http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/countries.cfm

Cheers

 

[newyearsrevolution08]

I wonder what their definition of free is then.

 

[DriftWood]

I wonder what their definition of free is then.

They brake it down into..

Check out how US scores:

http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/country.cfm?id=Unitedstates

Its still a bit subjective.. I agree

Cheers

 

[american.swan]

http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/faq.cfm

Read the FAQ

This is mostly a ranking of business issues and having a higher score might show less involvement in business and labor issues by government.

That's just my take.

 

[DriftWood]

http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/faq.cfm

Read the FAQ

This is mostly a ranking of business issues and having a higher score might show less involvement in business and labor issues by government.

That's just my take.

Yeah, if you ask me.. economic freedom is the most important of all freedoms. You don't get political freedom without economic freedom. In fact i think if people have economic freedom they are able to buy political freedom.

Cheers

 

[newyearsrevolution08]

minimize government size and it will all work out. Less government would equal free trade rights since WE would be running things for the most part.

 

[szczebrzeszyn]

Yeah, if you ask me.. economic freedom is the most important of all freedoms.

Really? So you'd accept UK's big brother anytime? They are in the top 10.
BTW. My country is "mostly unfree"

 

[RainbowsChild]

Top Ten Most Peaceful Countries In The World

The Heritage Foundation is talking about freedom for businesses, not people. You cannot have freedom while government authorities fire machine guns at you, burn your house down, and brutally murder your innocent children like they did in Waco.

According to the new Global Peace Index (GPI), the Top Ten Most Peaceful Countries In The World are:

1 Norway
2 New Zealand
3 Denmark
4 Ireland
5 Japan
6 Finland
7 Sweden
8 Canada
9 Portugal
10 Austria

http://www.visionofhumanity.com/rankings/

 

[tangent4ronpaul]

Hong Kong 1 [90.3]
Singapore 2 [87.4] - fairly poor human rights record, IIRC
Ireland 3 [82.4] - last I heard they were trying to restrict or ban knives...
Australia 4 [82.0] - massive gun control / nanny state
United States 5 [80.6] - in mid flush...
New Zealand 6 [80.2] - massive gun control / nanny state
Canada 7 [80.2] - lot of gun control / nanny state / eminent domain problems, etc.
Chile 8 [79.8]
Switzerland 9 [79.7] - would have thought they and Austria would have been at the top of the list.
United Kingdom 10 [79.5] - total nanny state / surveillance society - don't they have something like a surveillance camera for every 10 citizens or something?

If these are the 10 "Freest" countries in the world - the world is in SERIOUS TROUBLE!

 

[Primbs]

Isn't Hong Kong under Communist Chinese Rule?

 

[DriftWood]

Really? So you'd accept UK's big brother anytime? They are in the top 10.
BTW. My country is "mostly unfree"

I work in the UK, its not too bad. I prefer it to Sweden and Finland where I lived before, where much of ones wages are lost in taxes. Obviously UK could be better with a smaller govt.

When it comes to all those security cameras.. Hmmm.. i dont really have that big of a problem with 'em. They are all in public spaces and as such im not sure that they violate my privacy.

Look at it this way, a private shop keeper has the right to film his shop and the private property that he owns. It would be in his right also to sell the image feed from his shop to some big private enterprice that also has access to most of the other private camera feeds in the country. This private big brother could sell this info, as a service to 3rd parties. Say to a big private security firm. There would be nothing wrong with this from a libertarian perspective. And what if the govt payed the private big brother for its services? Does that make it wrong. Yes, but only because taxpayer money is being spent. Not because someones privacy is violated. I mean we do not have a right not to be seen in public. We have a right to own private property and we can make sure that we are not seen or recorded there by keeping our windows shut.

Well thats my take on it.

Cheers

 

[christagious]

Chile at number 8 is a bit of a surprise

Not sure if you're surprised that it's on the list or that it's not more in the top 5. If the former, Ron Paul mentioned Chile's economic policy in his book. If the latter, then I agree with you

 

[Kalifornia]

this ranking is bullshit. Economic freedom is less than half of the equation.


What about freedom to own and deploy the tools to defend yourself?
What about freedom to speak/assemble?
What about freedom of religion?
What about privacy rights?
What about property rights?
Freedom of dissent?
Freedom to put what you want into your own body?
Freedom to raise your kids without .gov interference?
the list goes on and on.

A fascist state could do quite well on the ranking in the OP.

 

[DriftWood]

The Heritage Foundation is talking about freedom for businesses, not people. You cannot have freedom while government authorities fire machine guns at you, burn your house down, and brutally murder your innocent children like they did in Waco.

According to the new Global Peace Index (GPI), the Top Ten Most Peaceful Countries In The World are:

1 Norway
2 New Zealand
3 Denmark
4 Ireland
5 Japan
6 Finland
7 Sweden
8 Canada
9 Portugal
10 Austria

http://www.visionofhumanity.com/rankings/

Well the one thing about this issue that was a real eye opener for me.. was a short description in the the book "Wealth of Nations" (i think). It descibed how the feudal lords owned the life of the pesants that worked on their land. The peasants actually voluntarily gave away all their freedoms in exchange for protection from the violence of other feuadal war lords, and in exchange for getting fed once a day. They had to work hard and could be killed without reason if the feudal lord felt like it. But it still was better than the alternative, it was a mutually benifital deal. The peasants grew food for themselves and traded it among themselves when the lord was not looking. The lord could not stop this and instaed raided the farmers and merchants once in a while collecting money from them. The peasants and merchants started expecting this and instead of waiting to getting raided and beaten they voluntarily gave some money to the lords once a week or something. The lord just had to sit back and receive a fixed amount of money at his doorstep every week. This was protection money, or the taxes to keep the lord away. It was better for the merchants as they did not get raided anymore.. and they could keep more of the money for themsleves without the lord knowing about it. Ther war lords where free to do what they did best, that is go to war with other lords. The more time went on, the richer the merchants got, and the smaller the share of the money they gave the lord. Thats how the peasants got their freedoms back from the lords. They simply bought their freedoms back.

So what has that got to do with anything? Well it shows how economic freedom leeds to political freedom. I also think that its a good story to show what the proper role of govt is. The govt is the king and he makes sure that no other king starts stealing his land and destroying his property or killing his people. The people will pay the king protection money or taxes to get this service. The king might be a brutal dictator, but in the long run he will loose power to the people because he can not stop them from looking out for their own interests first and foremost. A individual will work harder for himself than for his king, thats just human nature. People get richer, wealth equals more power. People get richer and the dictator becomes more benevolent. The king becomes dependent on the money given to him by the people. He makes sure to be nice to the people so that he does not bite the hand that feeds him. People anywhere, given enough time will become free. The path to political freedom leeds thru economic freedom. The proper role of the king/govt is to protect the people from the violence of others.

Trading and wealth building cant happen in war and anarchy. Peace is what happens when one side wins and there is a monopoly on violence.

Anarchy->Dictatorship->Trading->Freedom

Cheers

 

[DriftWood]

this ranking is bullshit. Economic freedom is less than half of the equation.


What about freedom to own and deploy the tools to defend yourself?
What about freedom to speak/assemble?
What about freedom of religion?
What about privacy rights?
What about property rights?
Freedom of dissent?
Freedom to put what you want into your own body?
Freedom to raise your kids without .gov interference?
the list goes on and on.

A fascist state could do quite well on the ranking in the OP.

Well property rights surely falls under economic freedom. The right to property is a fundamental right that all other rights you mention originate from. Any state that has these economic freedom, given enough time will become free in the political sense as well.

Economic freedom will brake any fascist or authoritarian state. Economic freedom is like water, given enuough time it will cut thru the hardest rock.

Cheers

 

[DriftWood]

Isn't Hong Kong under Communist Chinese Rule?

Wikipedia...

"The Government of Hong Kong is responsible for its own legal system, police force, monetary system, customs policy, immigration policy, and delegates to international organisations and events. [...] Hong Kong operate with a high degree of autonomy until at least 2047".

Hopefully by that time China will have become just as free as Hong Kong. China is on the right track but its got lots of catching up to do.

Cheers

 

[DriftWood]

Not sure if you're surprised that it's on the list or that it's not more in the top 5. If the former, Ron Paul mentioned Chile's economic policy in his book. If the latter, then I agree with you

I have not had a chance to read the book (Im in the Philippines at the moment and no bookshop has it). I found this interesting fact about Chile that might explain the high ranking.. We all know that Ron Paul is into the Austrian school of economics. The Chicago School of economics (Milton Friedman) is very similar, and apparently the ideas influenced a lot of Chilean economists.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Boys

Chile is a young country, in the sense that its not that long ago that they gor rid of their dictator Pinochet. Their economy is booming and the politics are improving fast. Just look at how fast they are climbing the rankings in many other economical an political institutions lists.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chile#International_rankings

Seems whatever chile is dooing. Its working.

http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/country.cfm?ID=Chile

Cheers

 

[Primbs]

Wikipedia...

"The Government of Hong Kong is responsible for its own legal system, police force, monetary system, customs policy, immigration policy, and delegates to international organisations and events. [...] Hong Kong operate with a high degree of autonomy until at least 2047".

Hopefully by that time China will have become just as free as Hong Kong. China is on the right track but its got lots of catching up to do.

Cheers

The more I research china the worse it looks.

 

[Danke]

Let's see.

Singapore has bans on chewing gum and spitting.

The Netherlands sends 10 cops to arrest a cartoonist for insulting people. (I wonder how many more would have been sent if he were an animator…?)

Yep, they should be high on those lists.

 

[Sir VotesALot]

Canada, Switzerland, and Australia are NOT 'free'. When you receive a prison sentence for questioning the "holocaust" you are not 'free' no matter how much economic prosperity you have.