For nations all around the world, as well as right here at home, lawmakers struggle with how to achieve economic and social progress.

Data collected annually in the Index of Economic Freedom demonstrate that the principles of economic freedom have a strong positive impact on the global economy and poverty.

As economic freedom has increased over the last two decades, so has real world gross domestic product (GDP). During this same time period, the global poverty rate has been cut in half.

MASTER GFX TEMPLATE 2015v05

Today, hundreds of millions of people around world have been lifted out of poverty, and advancing economic freedom has played a vital role.

Today, hundreds of millions of people around world have been lifted out of poverty, and advancing economic freedom has played a vital role.

Despite the progress made, there’s still a lot of work to be done. Nearly 70 percent of people in the world live in countries that are mostly unfree or economically repressed.

Countries that are losing economic freedom, even those relatively free like the United States, are at risk, too.

Any loss of economic freedom is likely to lower growth rates. That’s a self-inflicted wound we need to avoid.