Just The Numbers, Mam

By: Les Dunaway

This past week, the 18th Annual Index of Economic Freedom was published.  It shows that our country has slipped to 10th in this critical ranking. The 15th Index published in January of 2009 ranked the US at 6th. So, in the three years since, we’ve dropped 4 places.

If you haven’t been following this Index, I suggest you watch the short video at the top right and for more depth, read the explanation at the lower right of its front page. The sound bite description is There is a close correlation between economic freedom and the health of a country’s economy. A reverse version of the same idea is the comment made by an East German around the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall: We pretend to work and they pretend to pay us.

Notice that none of the Eurozone countries are in the top 10 and the first appearance of a Eurozone country is by Germany at number 26 in the sub-category of Mostly Free. One must go to 36th to find the next, which is Spain, in the Moderately Free sub-category. If we look at what’s going on in Europe, seeing Germany leading the others is no surprise as it’s the only economy not on life support. It’s also worth noting the the German people are out of patience with paying for the self-destructive social policies of their Eurozone “partners”. The truly sad part is that Germany’s economy is healthy only because they sell to those partners. Germany is only a few quarters of down markets from where Spain and Italy are now.

I bring up the the Eurozone because there’s a segment of our country that believes the social democracies which make up that organization are the model of what America should be. I’m a numbers guy. I started as an engineer, moved through project management to financial management. All those disciplines have a common thread – processes/procedures/… either work or don’t work. The Eurozone countries have clearly demonstrated that their social democracy approach doesn’t work. In Greece, today, families are dropping off their little children at churches and shelters because they can’t feed them. [read] [read] [read] That’s where social democracy leads. My heroine Maggie Thatcher said it years ago: The trouble with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people’s money.

The above is my analysis of this matter. Following is some other’s:

• On January 12th, 2012 John Taylor looked at the report from an economist’s point of view in American Economic Freedom: Moving in the Wrong Direction [read]
• The January 13th, 2012 Morning Bell discusses the factors that cause a drop, or a rise, in the rankings in So You Think You’re Free. [read]
• The Washington Examiner, 14 Jan 2012, checked in with their view in Freedom fading in U.S. as Obama disses Constitution [read]
• In Defending the dream, published in January 10, 2012 Washington Times Ed Feulner discusses the Heritage Foundation’s plan for addressing many of the issues which led to America being ranked 10th. [read] The full plan is at Heritage Foundation [read]

I have a suggestion of what you might do with this information. It’s a two part process:

1. Determine whether your elected representatives, both state and federal, are aware of the Index. I suggest that you do this face to face in order to have the conversation with your representative, rather than with his/her staff. A question at the next town hall meeting such as “What do you think caused the 4 point drop in our Index of Economic Freedom rating?” You’ll get either a DIH look or your rep will have the opportunity to discuss an important matter with the crowd.
2. Use the above result to decide who to support in November.

I am not suggesting a one-issue attitude toward picking candidates. The Index is not a single metric but rather a ranking based on a the philosophies which are the soul of our country. I can think of only one ignorance which would be a greater disqualification – ignorance of the Constitution.