According to the report, the 10 countries with the lowest rating are Democratic Republic of the Congo, Algeria, Republic of the Congo, Iran, Libya, Argentina, Syrian Arab Republic, Zimbabwe, Sudan and Venezuela.
It should be noted that countries with authoritarian regimes such as North Korea and Cuba have not been scored due to lack of data.
Latin America
Within Latin America, the ranking is led by Chile (33rd position). Within Mercosur, the most economically free country is Uruguay (68th), followed by Paraguay (78th) and Brazil (114th). In contrast, the countries of the Pacific Alliance have a better average position: Chile (33rd), Peru (37th), Mexico (64th) and Colombia (99th).
According to the report, the fall in the ranking of Argentina was due to the worsening of the freedom to trade, in the regulations on the credit, labor and business markets, and the increase in the weight of the State on the economy.
On the other hand, respect for property rights remained stable and there was an improvement in access to a sound currency (something that responds to the fact that the data that make up the index excludes the inflationary acceleration of recent months).
“Argentina’s indicators have worsened practically all if we compare with those registered for the previous year. This is mainly explained by the change of government and the assumption of the Fernández-Fernández formula in the presidency. We should not be surprised by the loss of economic freedoms since the government always gave a clear message against them“, he claimed Santiago Houseseconomist at the Fundación Libertad y Progreso.
“To all this, we add the temporary regulations and impositions due to the pandemic that further curtail individual freedoms. In this way, Argentina is in the top five of the least free countries in the world, according to this index. Without economic freedom and legal stability, there is no investment, and if there is no investment, the process of capital accumulation that increases the gross product and real wages is interrupted. The short-term horizon for Argentina is quite discouraging and worrisome”, the analyst completed.
For its part, Fred McMahonan analyst at the Fraser Institute, noted: “When countries increase taxes and regulations, people become less economically free, which translates into lower growth rates and less investment”.
In that sense, he stated: “Where people are free to seek their own opportunities and make their own decisions, they lead more prosperous, happy and healthy lives.”
According to the study, leading academic publications show that people who live in countries with high levels of economic freedom enjoy greater prosperity, more political and civil liberties, and longer lives.
economic freedom.PNG
In that framework, he noted that countries in the top quartile of economic freedom had an average GDP per capita of $48,251 in 2020, compared to $6,542 for countries in the bottom quartile. And he added that poverty rates are lower; in the top quartile, 2.02% of the population experienced extreme poverty (income less than $1.90 per day) compared to 31.45% in the bottom quartile.
Finally, he highlighted that life expectancy in the freest countries is 80.4 years, while in the most repressed it is 66 years.
The Index of Economic Freedom of the World measures how well countries’ policies and institutions support economic freedom, This is defined as the ability of people to make their own economic decisions, through the analysis of various indicators that include regulation, the size of government, property rights, public spending and taxes.
This year’s publication, based on 2020 data (the most recent available) ranks 165 countries and territories. The report also updates the data from previous reports where the data has been revised.
Meanwhile, the Fraser Institute produces the annual Economic Freedom of the World report in cooperation with the Economic Freedom Network, a group of independent research and education institutes in nearly 100 countries and territories.
It is the world’s leading measure of economic freedom, measuring and ranking countries in five areas: size of government, legal structure and security of property rights, access to a sound currency, freedom to trade internationally and regulation of credit, work and business.
Source: Ambito
David William is a talented author who has made a name for himself in the world of writing. He is a professional author who writes on a wide range of topics, from general interest to opinion news. David is currently working as a writer at 24 hours worlds where he brings his unique perspective and in-depth research to his articles, making them both informative and engaging.
