The United States is losing ground to its major competitors in the global marketplace, according to the 2010 Index of Economic Freedom released today by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal. This year, of the world’s 20 largest economies, the U.S. suffered the largest drop in overall economic freedom. Its score declined to 78 from 80.7 on the 0 to 100 Index scale. The U.S. lost ground on many fronts. Scores declined in seven of the 10 categories of economic freedom. Losses were particularly significant in the areas …
Member of the European Parliament Daniel Hannan came to Heritage today to remind Americans why and how to avoid Europe’s mistakes. On March 24, 2009, Daniel Hannan became an overnight internet sensation when a YouTube recording of his three-minute speech responding to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s remarks before the European Parliament went viral. As the most viewed video for two days running and with over 2.4 million views to date, Dan Hannan’s speech opposing higher public spending, tax increases and record borrowing in the current economic crisis sparked international …
Today, another burden is being placed on America’s small businesses. Effective on this date is the third installment of the increase of the minimum wage that was passed in 2007. Once again, our federal government has provided not a help, but a hindrance to our economic recovery. When the three-phase minimum wage increase was initially signed into law in May 2007, the unemployment rate was 4.5%, and when the first phase went into place, the unemployment rate was 4.6%. Today it stands at 9.5%. At a time of record deficits, …
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z74Akf1WUbU[/youtube]
Breaking news: President Obama is a strong believer in free markets. Yesterday, in an address to the Business Roundtable, Obama mounted a vigorous defense of the free market and private enterprise, explaining his basic approach to economics and regulation. In his own words, Obama has “always been a strong believer in the power of the free market. It has been and will remain the very engine of America’s progress – the source of a prosperity that has gone unmatched in human history. I believe that jobs are best created not by government, but …
The National Center for Policy Analysis‘ Michael Stroup makes an interesting finding when he compare the Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom Index (EFI) with Freedom House’s political rights index (PRI). The EFI uses objective data to rate a government’s relative level of economic freedom taking into account limited government, stable monetary growth, free trade and a strong rule of law. The PRI, on the other hand, takes into account the right to organize political parties, the significance of the opposition vote, and the possibility for real change in power to make …
