Africa’s progress in Heritage’s 2013 Index of Economic Freedom remains stagnant. Though making progress last year, with an average score gain of 0.2 points, the continent declined by 0.1 points in 2013. Over the past few years, scores of Western nations have seen their ratings plummet (including the United States). …
The new crop of nominees for President Obama’s Global Development Council need look no further than The Heritage Foundation’s just-published 2013 Index of Economic Freedom for inspiration. When the President announced the creation of the council last year, its stated purpose was to provide guidance on new developments and ideas …
A long-awaited report on natural gas exports was finally released by the Department of Energy (DOE) last week. Unsurprisingly, it concluded that exporting natural gas would bring a net economic benefit to the U.S. economy, with most benefits being realized as economies of scale in gas production increase. With the …
The clock is ticking. Massive tax hikes are threatening to push America’s already declining economic freedom over the “fiscal cliff,” a politician-made economic catastrophe. President Obama’s proposal to avert the fiscal cliff is a $1.6 trillion tax hike plus new stimulus spending, along with expanded power for himself to raise …
Fresh charges of corruption are shaking up the Workers Party of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, as The Wall Street Journal reported last week. Reforms are long overdue. The most recent “Rosegate” scandal stems from official charges brought by the Federal Police (Brazil’s version of the FBI) after an investigation of …
Although Japan is now best remembered for two decades of economic stagnancy, its post-war development plan can still serve as a model for emerging countries and economies recovering from crisis. This notion was on display in October, when, for the first time since 1964, Tokyo hosted the annual meetings of …
Later this month, China and 15 other nations will begin negotiations for a possible new trade agreement. This agreement, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, could encompass 28 percent of the global economy, to the benefit of all nations involved. These negotiations reflect a worldwide trend of bilateral and multilateral trade …
In an unprecedented fall, the U.S. dropped out of the top 10 for the first time in the 2012 Legatum Prosperity Index that was published today. The index benchmarks countries in eight categories: economy, education, entrepreneurship and opportunity, governance, health, personal freedom, safety and security, and social capital. Legatum’s latest …
