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  • Index of Economic Freedom

    Morning Bell: Economic Freedom Is Foundation Of All Other Freedoms

    Next Monday, January 17, is the 50th anniversary of President Dwight Eisenhower’s farewell address. The speech is most commonly remembered for President Eisenhower’s warning about the “unwarranted influence” of the “military-industrial complex,” but often left out of the story is Ike’s warning about profligate federal spending as well: “We cannot … More

    The Links Between Economic Freedom and American Leadership in International Security

    The 2011 Index of Economic Freedom is out, and the news is not good. For the second year in a row, America became less economically free. The U.S. is now just the ninth-freest economy in the world. The decline in the U.S. ranking was driven by skyrocketing government spending, new … More

    Tackling Deficits: The Chicago Way, and the Other Way

    While it’s being reported that every state (except Florida) had snow on the ground this week, 46 states are digging out of another kind of mess — a combined deficit of at least $127 billion. Democratic and Republican state leaders alike are grappling with structural budget deficits, many of whom … More

    Morning Bell: No Debt Ceiling Raise Without Spending Cuts

    On March 16, 2006, when our national debt stood at $8.27 trillion, a young Senator from Illinois announced his intention to vote against raising our nation’s debt ceiling to $9 trillion, explaining: The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership … More

    VIDEO: Is the American Dream Dead?

    Our new video asks, “Is the American Dream dead?” With the release of the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom, one element of the report should be inescapable to American readers: out-of-control spending is a serious threat to our country’s prosperity. The enormity of the problem should not be underestimated—last year, … More

    Morning Bell: The Government Spending Threat to Economic Freedom

    This morning, The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal released the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom, and while the news is good for many countries, it is depressing for the United States. All told, 117 countries, mainly developing and emerging market economies, improved their Economic Freedom Index score. Meanwhile … More

    Free Trade Increases Living Standards, Creates and “Spreads the Wealth” Better Than Government Can

    Michael Barone has an interesting piece today highlighting a recent article by George Mason University economist Tyler Cowen in The American Interest that explains how rising U.S. living standards across the board have “spread the wealth” far more efficiently than any statist program the Obama Administration can dream up. Cowen … More

    Threats to Economic Freedom in Belize?

    Although Belize has made some progress on its Index of Economic Freedom score in the past few years, recent actions by the government of Prime Minister Dean Barrow and the supermajority his United Democratic Party enjoys in Parliament may have put that progress at risk. Belize is increasingly wracked by … More

    Corruption In India: People Or The State?

    Corruption is again dominating the news in India. Long-standing issues, such as broad attempts to avoid taxes, have simmered back to the surface and been joined by new accusations against the wealthy, major companies, and the government. Scandals have crossed finance, property, and telecom. Crimes have been committed and the … More

    Morning Bell: When Will Our Progressive Corporatism Nightmare End?

    $154 billion. That is the amount of taxpayer money that will be needed to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac according to a new “stress test” performed by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. And that is the good news. If the economy dips into a second recession and foreclosures … More