2015 Economic Freedom Report: The freedom of all the world’s countries, ranked! (Hint: America’s not #1)

“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.”
http://www.freetheworld.com/
This is the most extensive study of freedom worldwide, conducted every year. We can all have sentimental beliefs about what country is free, but here’s the numbers.
http://www.freetheworld.com/release.html
Here’s the top-10 most economically free countries on Earth (2013 – most recent year numbers are available for):
1. Hong Kong
2. Singapore
3. New Zealand
4. Switzerland
5. UAE
6. Mauritius
7. Jordan
8. Ireland
9. Canada
10. UK
I’m sure you’re surprised not to see the US there. I’m sure you’re surprised to see Canada and Britain ahead of America! America is at 16. You might resist that, but (a) the numbers speak for themselves – you can all read the data they use – and (b) economists have known America isn’t the most economically free country for years. In fact, America has been slipping in the rankings for years.
Now, attentive readers might wonder “What was the ranking under Bush?” The 2009 report gives the numbers for 2007. America was ranked 6th globally in economic freedom.
http://www.freetheworld.com/2009/reports/world/EFW2009_BOOK.pdf
So, in short, under Obama America has fallen from the 6th most free country on Earth to the 16th as of 2013. Given the trend since 2007, we can expect that the report next year and the year after will show America slipping even farther.

Tom