U.S. Can’t Lead on Economic Freedom When It’s Retreating
Ted Bromund /
The news is out: the U.S. is falling behind on economic freedom. In the 2010 edition of the Index of Economic Freedom, the United States, for the first time, dropped out of the ranks of the free, and into those of the ‘mostly free,’ ranking eighth in the world and behind Canada in North America.
The U.S. retreat was broad-based: it fell backward in seven of the ten areas measured. And while much of the U.S.’s decline stemmed from its response, under both President George W. Bush and President Obama, to the financial crisis, some of the burden it carries is older, and even heavier. Its corporate tax rate, at 35 percent, is high compared to most of its major competitors. Its government spending, though lower than some, has risen steadily since 2000. And though it ranks relatively highly on freedom from corruption, it is only 18th out of the 179 nations surveyed, which is far from flattering to our sense that Americans are an honest people.