.... we're now down to 16th.

http://www.cato.org/economic-freedom-wor...ign=buffer

Some people would view that ranking as a positive.

Lets review

1) Hong Kong - not a democracy, not really even a country. If Wall Street was a non-democracy run by the Bankers, it would probably be number one.

2) Singapore - Few personal freedoms. Not a democracy. Requires citizens to invest in state retirement plans, has must take health insurance, and is the nanny of nanny states. Try buying a car there. The US is far more free for all but oligarchs.

3) New Zealand - Great country. Has universal health care and lots of regulations. Small population.
4) Switzerland - Another small population country that is the financial center for a region. Lots of unfree regulations there that would make most Americans' heads spin, such as it being illegal to do laundry on a Sunday in your apartment, or take a shower after 9pm in Zurich.
5) Mauritius - Another tiny country. Criminalizes being Gay. Not free.
6) UAE - Another financial services micro state. No rights of any kind. Throws people in jail for bankruptcy.
7) Canada - A real country. Socialized medicine.
8) Australia - Another real country. Socialized medicine and handguns are basically illegal.
9) Jordan - Small country with security problems and is not a democracy. Not free.
10) Chile - A real country with Socialized medicine.
11) Finland - Small country with Socialized medicine and Means based fees and fines.
12) UK - Socialized medicine, gun controls, high taxes, and lots of regulations.
13) Ireland - Small country with socialized medicine and high taxes.
14) Taiwan - Small country with Socialized medicine.

---

Looks like the CATO institute loves microstates that live off of money laundering. I'm surprised Panama wasn't on the list. Actually that's a bit unfair. There are countries that try to make something illegal elsewhere legal in order to gain economically. This really only works so long as most places make it illegal and the legalizing country is small. Much like Nevada with gambling.

By the way, the USA is predicted to outgrow EVERY SINGLE ONE of those countries this year and next (with the possible exceptions of Taiwan and Singapore).

---

I'd rather invest in the USA than in any of those countries right now.

Holy cow. We rank behind QATAR. The country where there is practically slavery we are behind. Thats kinda nuts

I take a lot of what CATO says with a grain of salt.

There are certainly better places to put your money than the US right now but I wouldn't chalk that up to issues with this somewhat nebulous term 'freedom.'

(09-17-2015 10:48 AM)DragonLair Wrote:  Holy cow. We rank behind QATAR. The country where there is practically slavery we are behind. Thats kinda nuts

Of course we do. CATO is about economic freedom for oligarchs. Qatar has no taxes because it has the largest amount of natural gas reserves in the world and has a tiny population. They also have no regulations whatsoever and no non-economic freedoms whatsoever. I guess CATO has faith in their judicial system and the rule of law there, but I certainly don't.

I'm glad we aren't number 1 in this ranking. It looks like you have to be some undemocratic microstate filled with plutocrats to rank well in this ranking.

I'm surprised they didn't rank Monaco, Andorra, San Marino, and Liechtenstein ahead of the USA too.

But lets face facts...do you really want to invest fixed assets in Qatar? I don't.

(09-17-2015 10:48 AM)DragonLair Wrote:  Holy cow. We rank behind QATAR. The country where there is practically slavery we are behind. Thats kinda nuts

It is an economic freedom index, not a social one. They also do a social and a combined index. QATAR gets killed in the social one and combined. But economically, they saw what happened in Dubai and embraced English Common Law.

That's how you get this in the middle of the desert in just a generation.

(09-17-2015 11:09 AM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  

(09-17-2015 10:48 AM)DragonLair Wrote:  Holy cow. We rank behind QATAR. The country where there is practically slavery we are behind. Thats kinda nuts

Of course we do. CATO is about economic freedom for oligarchs. Qatar has no taxes because it has the largest amount of natural gas reserves in the world and has a tiny population. They also have no regulations whatsoever and no non-economic freedoms whatsoever. I guess CATO has faith in their judicial system and the rule of law there, but I certainly don't.

I'm glad we aren't number 1 in this ranking. It looks like you have to be some undemocratic microstate filled with plutocrats to rank well in this ranking.

I'm surprised they didn't rank Monaco, Andorra, San Marino, and Liechtenstein ahead of the USA too.

But lets face facts...do you really want to invest fixed assets in Qatar? I don't.

I don't want to invest fixed assets anywhere. But I do consider Qatar to be a better growth market than the US.

(09-17-2015 11:13 AM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  

(09-17-2015 10:48 AM)DragonLair Wrote:  Holy cow. We rank behind QATAR. The country where there is practically slavery we are behind. Thats kinda nuts

It is an economic freedom index, not a social one. They also do a social and a combined index. QATAR gets killed in the social one and combined. But economically, they saw what happened in Dubai and embraced English Common Law.

That's how you get this in the middle of the desert in just a generation.

Well, that and huge reserves of oil.

(09-17-2015 10:48 AM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  Lets review

1) Hong Kong - not a democracy, not really even a country. If Wall Street was a non-democracy run by the Bankers, it would probably be number one.

2) Singapore - Few personal freedoms. Not a democracy. Requires citizens to invest in state retirement plans, has must take health insurance, and is the nanny of nanny states. Try buying a car there. The US is far more free for all but oligarchs.

3) New Zealand - Great country. Has universal health care and lots of regulations. Small population.
4) Switzerland - Another small population country that is the financial center for a region. Lots of unfree regulations there that would make most Americans' heads spin, such as it being illegal to do laundry on a Sunday in your apartment, or take a shower after 9pm in Zurich.
5) Mauritius - Another tiny country. Criminalizes being Gay. Not free.
6) UAE - Another financial services micro state. No rights of any kind. Throws people in jail for bankruptcy.
7) Canada - A real country. Socialized medicine.
8) Australia - Another real country. Socialized medicine and handguns are basically illegal.
9) Jordan - Small country with security problems and is not a democracy. Not free.
10) Chile - A real country with Socialized medicine.
11) Finland - Small country with Socialized medicine and Means based fees and fines.
12) UK - Socialized medicine, gun controls, high taxes, and lots of regulations.
13) Ireland - Small country with socialized medicine and high taxes.
14) Taiwan - Small country with Socialized medicine.

---

Looks like the CATO institute loves microstates that live off of money laundering. I'm surprised Panama wasn't on the list. Actually that's a bit unfair. There are countries that try to make something illegal elsewhere legal in order to gain economically. This really only works so long as most places make it illegal and the legalizing country is small. Much like Nevada with gambling.

By the way, the USA is predicted to outgrow EVERY SINGLE ONE of those countries this year and next (with the possible exceptions of Taiwan and Singapore).

---

I'd rather invest in the USA than in any of those countries right now.

Hong Kong is a SEZ, still more or less coasting off the momentum of graciously being ignored by British government. And they are still the gold standard for business friendliness. You can with one piece of paper start a business with legal recognition in one day. And get faster turnaround time filing that piece of paper than we get at the DMV.

Here's Milton Friedman explaining a bit about Hong Kong





Much of your griping about the rankings and back handed compliments are social issues. But then it isn't surprising you don't understand the word "economic" as used in the title of the thread and of the document in question.

(09-17-2015 11:18 AM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  

(09-17-2015 10:48 AM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  Lets review

1) Hong Kong - not a democracy, not really even a country. If Wall Street was a non-democracy run by the Bankers, it would probably be number one.

2) Singapore - Few personal freedoms. Not a democracy. Requires citizens to invest in state retirement plans, has must take health insurance, and is the nanny of nanny states. Try buying a car there. The US is far more free for all but oligarchs.

3) New Zealand - Great country. Has universal health care and lots of regulations. Small population.
4) Switzerland - Another small population country that is the financial center for a region. Lots of unfree regulations there that would make most Americans' heads spin, such as it being illegal to do laundry on a Sunday in your apartment, or take a shower after 9pm in Zurich.
5) Mauritius - Another tiny country. Criminalizes being Gay. Not free.
6) UAE - Another financial services micro state. No rights of any kind. Throws people in jail for bankruptcy.
7) Canada - A real country. Socialized medicine.
8) Australia - Another real country. Socialized medicine and handguns are basically illegal.
9) Jordan - Small country with security problems and is not a democracy. Not free.
10) Chile - A real country with Socialized medicine.
11) Finland - Small country with Socialized medicine and Means based fees and fines.
12) UK - Socialized medicine, gun controls, high taxes, and lots of regulations.
13) Ireland - Small country with socialized medicine and high taxes.
14) Taiwan - Small country with Socialized medicine.

---

Looks like the CATO institute loves microstates that live off of money laundering. I'm surprised Panama wasn't on the list. Actually that's a bit unfair. There are countries that try to make something illegal elsewhere legal in order to gain economically. This really only works so long as most places make it illegal and the legalizing country is small. Much like Nevada with gambling.

By the way, the USA is predicted to outgrow EVERY SINGLE ONE of those countries this year and next (with the possible exceptions of Taiwan and Singapore).

---

I'd rather invest in the USA than in any of those countries right now.

Hong Kong is a SEZ, still more or less coasting off the momentum of graciously being ignored by British government. And they are still the gold standard for business friendliness. You can with one piece of paper start a business with legal recognition in one day. And get faster turnaround time filing that piece of paper than we get at the DMV.

Here's Milton Friedman explaining a bit about Hong Kong





Much of your griping about the rankings and back handed compliments are social issues. But then it isn't surprising you don't understand the word "economic" as used in the title of the thread and of the document in question.

Again, good for the micro (non) state of Hong Kong! And the SEZ ends in 2047. So enjoy it while it lasts. Because you're going to be unified with glorious mother Beijing soon.