Economic Freedom of the World: 2010 Annual Report

THANK YOU FOR COMING! The key to changing policy in the world is changing the climate of opinion about what works and what does not work in encouraging world development The key to changing the climate of opinion is providing the widest possible audience with good information about the causes of development and under- development

Economic Freedom of the World Project Objective: find a way to measure economic freedom and explore the connection between it and other variables 30 year project Led by the late Milton Friedman and Rose Friedman, and Michael Walker Involved 60 of the worlds top scholars

What is the Economic Freedom of the World Index? u An annual compilation of data representing factors which make a country economically free u Authors: James Gwartney, Robert Lawson, and Joshua Hall u A compendium of 42 government policies affecting economic freedom based on objective data or independent surveys u A ranking of 141 countries representing 95% of the worlds population according to the extent to which they permit their citizens to be economically free u Now a collaboration of Institutes in 80 nations and terrritories

What is Economic Freedom Individuals have economic freedom when property they acquire without the use of force, fraud, or theft is protected from physical invasions by others and they are free to use, exchange, or give their property as long as their actions do not violate the identical rights of others. An index of economic freedom should measure the extent to which rightly acquired property is protected and individuals are engaged in voluntary transactions. James Gwartney et al. 1996

Components of the Economic Freedom of the World Index Size of government and taxation Private property and the rule of law Soundness of money Trade regulation and tariffs Regulation of business, labour and capital markets Based entirely on objective, third party data and independent surveys for 141 countries

Talk about making a difference …

Albanian Center for Economic Research (ACER), Albania Fundación Libertad, Argentina Institute of Public Affairs, Australia TIGRA®, Austria Center for Economic and Political Research,Azerbaijan The Nassau Institute, Bahamas Making Our Economy Right (MOER), Bangladesh Scientific Research Mises Center, Belarus Centre for the New Europe, Belgium Fundacion Libertad y Democracia (FULIDE), Bolivia Instituto Liberal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Institute for Market Economics, Bulgaria Le Centre des Affaires Humaines (CEDAH),Burkina Faso The Cambodia Institute of Development Study, Cambodia Instituto Libertad y Desarrollo, Chile Instituto Libertad y Progreso (ILP), Colombia Instituto para la Libertad y el Análisis de Políticas, Costa Rica The Institute of Economics, Croatia Liberální Institut, Czech Republic Center for Politiske Studier (CEPOS), Denmark Fundación Economía y Desarrollo Inc, Dominican Republic Instituto Ecuatoriano de Economía Política,Ecuador International University Audentes, Estonia Association pour la Liberté Economique et le Progrès Social (ALEPS), France Society for Disseminating Economic Knowledge:, New Economic School – Georgia, Georgia Center for Business and Society Incorporated (Civita), Norway International Research Foundation (IRF), Oman Alternate Solutions Institute, Pakistan Pal-Think for Strategic Studies, Palestine Fundación Libertad, Panama Centro de Investigación y Estudios Legales (CITEL), Peru The Center for Research and Communication, Philippines Centrum im. Adama Smitha, Poland Causa Liberal, Portugal Romania Think Tank, Romania Institute of Economic Analysis, Russia Free Market Center (FMC), Serbia The F.A. Hayek Foundation, Slovak Republic The Free Market Foundation of Southern Africa, South Africa Pathfinder Foundation, Sri Lanka Timbro, Sweden Liberales Institut, Switzerland Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business, The University of the West Indies, Trinidad, W.I. Association for Liberal Thinking, Turkey The Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research, Ukraine The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), United Kingdom CATO Institute, USA The Centre for the Dissemination of Economic Knowledge (CEDICE), Venezuela Research Center for Entrepreneurship Development, Vietnam Zambia Institute for Public Policy Analysis (ZIPPA), Zambia Member Institutes of Economic Freedom of the World Network Liberales Institut, Germany The Institute of Economic Affairs, Ghana Centro de Investigaciones Económicas Nacionales, Guatemala Institut de Recherche pour la Liberte Economique et la Prosperite (IRLEP), Haiti Hong Kong Centre for Economic Research, Hong Kong Szazadveg Foundation, Hungary Centre for Social and Economic Research (RSE), Iceland Centre for Civil Society, India The Institute for Development of Economics and Finance, Indonesia Open Republic Institute, Ireland Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies, Israel Centro Einaudi, Italy Bureau d'Analyse d'Ingenierie et de Logiciels (BAILO), Ivory Coast Young Entrepreneurs Association, Jordan African Research Center for Public Policy and Market Process, Kenya Center for Free Enterprise, Korea Economic Policy Institute-Bishkek Consensus, Kyrgyz Republic Lithuanian Free Market Institute, Lithuania D'Letzeburger Land, Luxembourg Centro de Investigación para el Desarrollo A.C., Mexico Open Society Forum, Mongolia The Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, Montenegro The Prosperity Foundation, Nepal The New Zealand Business Roundtable, New Zealand Initiative for Public Policy Analysis, Nigeria

1) Sample of Press Coverage for Fraser Institute Economic Freedom of the World 2009 A Traves De Venezuela About.com:MarketsafricaFM African Executive Alerta Venezuela Alibaba.com News AlphaTrade Finance AlWatan Daily AOL Money & Finance Bahamas Weekly Balkaninsight.com Baltic Business Daily Better Trends Financial Live Brisbane Times Business Day Business Mirror Business Times Business World Online BusinessWorldCabalamuse Catamacra es noticia CBC-rcdnews.com.tw China Business Guardian Guía Venezuela Gulf Daily News Haaretz Herald Media Hong Kong Economic Journal Hong Kong Trader Hospodářské Noviny Illinois Daily Herald Individual.com Institutional Investor Instituto Ecuatoriano de Economia Politica Invertia Invertia Peru Invertia Venezuela investujeme IStock Analyst IWF Inkwell Jakarta Post Jerusalem Post Khaleej Times Online Knowledge Problem Korea Times La Manana Córdoba China Weekly News Citizen Economists CNBC CNBC European Business Columbia Star CPI Financial Diario el Financiero Economia y Negocios Online Economics Roundtable Economist El Espectador Uruguay El Nacional El Paso Times Elsigloweb.comeMediaWorld.com Entorno Inteligente Entorno Inteligente.com Epochtimes.com (Australia) Fairchild Radio Finanz und Wirtschaft Foreign Policy Frenos & Contrapesos Gazeta.pl Gospaoarka GCPNews.comgigapedia.com Global Times \

2) Sample of Press Coverage for Fraser Institute Economic Freedom of the World 2009L'agefilatercera.comLepetitjournal.com Libertad y Desarrollo L'Orient le Jour Macau Business Mail & Guardian Market Wire Mediafax News Brief Service Bucharest Middle East Company News Minuto59 MNNews & Mina Montenegrin News Money Web Moneyworks.ae MSN Money Mumbai Mirror Národná Obroda National Business Review Nepal News NewsRoomAmerica.comNewstin.ae Noticia Al Dia Novinite Observer (Oman) Oman Daily Sydney Morning Herald SYS-CON India Taiwan News TalCualDigital.com The Standard (HK) Times of Oman Tlačová Agentúra Slovenskej Republiky Trade Arabia Tribune Tripoli Post Tu Noticiero Digital.com VeraSage Institute Voice Online VoxEU.org WA Today WABC-TV Channel 7 Whited Sepulche Worcester Telegram & Gazette World Journal Xinhua Online XorteYeniCagZawyaZhongGuo.ca Oman Tribune One's Observations Open Democracy oPeniazochOrbitando Plus News Pakistan Political Calculations Portalnet.ca Public Choice qtnews.net Reason: Hit & Run Report on Business Magazine Rilindja Demokratrika RosarioNet Sake 24 SEEbiz.eu (BIH) Sing Tao (Hong Kong) sinomontreal.ca SITA Slovenska Tlacova Agentura SITA Slovenska Tlacova Agentura (English) Sofia Echo South Asian Journal South China Morning Post Spero News Sports Network StreetInsider.com

Sub-national and Regional Indices

Economic Freedom of the Arab World

Economic Freedom of Latin America

Economic Freedom of Francophonie

Marketization Index of Chinese Provinces

Economic Freedom Index of Indian States

Economic Freedom Index of Argentinean Provinces

Economic Freedom of North America

Introducing the 2009 Economic Freedom of the World Index Results

Overall Economic Freedom Index and the Top 10 Source: The Fraser Institute.

Overall Economic Freedom Index and the Bottom Ten Source: The Fraser Institute.

Economic Freedom Over Time Source: The Fraser Institute.

Why is Economic Freedom Important? Economic rights are fundamental rights in the sense that without them there can be no political freedom or civil freedoms They are a prerequisite for growth and development They are a prerequisite for broader human development

The impact on prosperity and development

Income (per person) of the Bottom Ten Income (per person) of the Bottom Ten Sources: The Fraser Institute; The World Bank, World Development Indicators, NA

Income (per person) of the Top 10 Sources: The Fraser Institute; The World Bank, World Development Indicators, 2010.

Per Capita Income and Economic Freedom Quartile Sources: The Fraser Institute; The World Bank, World Development Indicators, Most Free ……………. Least Free

Growth in Developing Nations Per Capita and Economic Freedom Quartile Sources: The Fraser Institute; The World Bank, World Development Indicators, Most Free ……………. Least Free

Foreign Direct Investment and Economic Freedom Quartile Sources: The Fraser Institute; The World Bank, World Development Indicators, Most Free ……………. Least Free

Economic Freedom, the Poor, and Inequality

Income Share of the Poorest 10% and Economic Freedom Sources: The Fraser Institute; The World Bank, World Development Indicators, Most Free ……………. Least Free

Per Capita Income of Poorest 10% and Economic Freedom Sources: The Fraser Institute; The World Bank, World Development Indicators, Most Free ……………. Least Free

Economic Freedom, Governance, and Democracy

Economic Freedom and Civil/Political Rights Sources: The Fraser Institute; Freedom House, Freedom in the World Country Ratings, 2008, available at Most Free ……………. Least Free

Economic Freedom and Corruption High scores indicate low corruption Sources: The Fraser Institute; Transparency International, Corruption Perceptions Index, 2008/2009, available at Most Free ……………. Least Free

The impact of Economic Freedom on other indicators of well-being

Economic Freedom and Life Satisfaction Sources: The Fraser Institute; Freedom House, he (un)Happy Planet Index 2.0. Why good lives don't have to cost the Earth Most Free ……………. Least Free

Literacy Male Female Most Free ……………. Least Free Sources: The Fraser Institute; United Nations Development Programmme, Human Development Indicators 2009, available at

Life Expectancy at Birth and Economic Freedom Quartiles Sources: The Fraser Institute; The World Bank, World Development Indicators, Most Free ……………. Least Free

Conclusions Economic Freedom Increases prosperity for all Reduces poverty Increases other freedoms Improves quality of life