The results are in. When it comes to economic freedom, Hong Kong takes the gold, with Singapore following closely behind and New Zealand rounding out the top three in The Heritage Foundation’s 2015 Index of Economic Freedom.
The annual index, now in its 21st year, is a guide for measuring improvements in 186 countries’ economic freedom. This year’s index put the United States 12th on the list.
According to Anthony B. Kim, the Index’s co-editor, the index tracks four primary areas:
- Rule of law (property rights, freedom from corruption)
- Government size (fiscal freedom, government spending)
- Regulatory efficiency (business freedom, labor freedom, and monetary freedom)
- Market openness (trade freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom)
The Daily Signal pulled together 13 charts from this year’s Index of Economic Freedom to reveal some of the most interesting facts and figures:
