Economic Freedom: USA Back in Top 5, Canada 8th

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September 15, 2019

The USA was in decline for the last decade, falling to 16th in 2015, but is now catching up to the world leaders. Canada’s Fraser Institute released its 2019 report before the latest volleys of China-USA tariffs were announced.

162 countries are researched and ranked on their importance in five areas:

Size of government,
Legal structure and security of property rights,
Access to sound money,
Freedom to trade internationally, and
Regulation of credit, labour and business

Of interest is the addition this year of a gender disparity adjustment measuring the degree to which nations have double standards in respecting the economic freedom of women and men.

Economic freedom matters:

* Nations in the top 25% of freedom have an average per-capita GDP of $36,770. Nations in the bottom 25% have $6,140.

* Infant mortality: 6.7 per 1,000 live births in the top quartile and 40.5 in the bottom quartile.

* Life expectancy: 79.4 years for the top 25% and 65.2 years for the bottom 25%.

Details in the report here.

Stephen Hicks Ph.D

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Stephen Hicks Ph.D

Stephen R. C. Hicks PH.D. is the Senior Scholar for the Atlas Society, Professor of Philosophy at Rockford University, and the director of the Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship at Rockford University. In 2010, he won his university's Excellence in Teaching Award. Professor Hicks has written four books; Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault, Nietzsche and the Nazis, Entrepreneurial Living, and The Art of Reasoning: Readings for Logical Analysis.

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Stephen Hicks, Ph.D.

About the author:

Stephen Hicks, Ph.D.

Stephen R. C. Hicks is a Senior Scholar for The Atlas Society and Professor of Philosophy at Rockford University. He is also the Director of the Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship at Rockford University.

He is author of The Art of Reasoning: Readings for Logical Analysis (W. W. Norton & Co., 1998), Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault (Scholargy, 2004), Nietzsche and the Nazis (Ockham’s Razor, 2010), Entrepreneurial Living (CEEF, 2016), Liberalism Pro and Con (Connor Court, 2020), Art: Modern, Postmodern, and Beyond (with Michael Newberry, 2021) and Eight Philosophies of Education (2022). He has published in Business Ethics Quarterly, Review of Metaphysics, and The Wall Street Journal. His writings have been translated into 20 languages.

He has been Visiting Professor of Business Ethics at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., Visiting Fellow at the Social Philosophy & Policy Center in Bowling Green, Ohio, Visiting Professor at the University of Kasimir the Great, Poland, Visiting Fellow at Harris Manchester College of Oxford University, England, and Visiting Professor at Jagiellonian University, Poland.

His B.A. and M.A. degrees are from the University of Guelph, Canada. His Ph.D. in Philosophy is from Indiana University, Bloomington, USA.

In 2010, he won his university’s Excellence in Teaching Award.

His Open College podcast series is published by Possibly Correct Productions, Toronto. His video lectures and interviews are online at CEE Video Channel, and his website is StephenHicks.org.

Instagram Takeover Questions:

Every week we solicit questions from our 100K followers on Instagram (a social media platform popular with young people. Once a month we feature Stephen Hicks' answers to select questions, transcripts below:‍

Also several articles, selected for likely interest to Objectivist audiences:

‍“Egoism in Nietzsche and Rand.” The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies 10:2 (2009), 1-43
‍“The Postmodern Critique of Liberal Education.” Reason Papers 41:1 (Winter 2019): 60-89
‍“What Entrepreneurs Can Teach Us All About Life.” The Wall Street Journal. May 2, 2016
‍“Why Art Became Ugly.” Navigator 7:7 (September 2004), 5-11
‍“Does Kant Have a Place in Classical Liberalism?” Cato Unbound, October 17, 2016
‍“Ayn Rand and Contemporary Business Ethics.” Journal of Accounting, Ethics & Public Policy 3:1 (Winter 2003), 1-26
‍“Objectivity for Actual Human Beings.” Social Science Research Network, 2022
‍“Jordan Peterson’s Religious Facts and Values.” Academia.edu. Sandra Woien, Ph.D., editor, Jordan Peterson: Critical Responses, Chicago: Open Universe, 2021