Americans are generally in agreement that their country is free. America is even referred to as “The Land of the Free,” but is it really? According to the Human Freedom Index published by the Cato Institute, the Fraser Institute, and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, America falls in at 17th place on The Human Freedom Index. According to the study, New Zealand takes top honors with high levels of personal and economic freedom making it the world’s top ranked nation for freedom.
The index ranks countries by measuring citizens’ freedom in regard to:
- Rule of Law
- Security and Safety
- Movement
- Religion
- Association, Assembly, and Civil Society
- Expression and Information
- Identity and Relationships
- Size of Government
- Legal System and Property Rights
- Access to Sound Money
- Freedom to Trade Internationally
- Regulation of Credit, Labor, and Business
The authors explain:
The jurisdictions that took the top 10 places, in order, were New Zealand, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and Denmark (tied in 6th place), Ireland and the United Kingdom (tied in 8th place), and Finland, Norway, and Taiwan (tied in 10th place). Selected countries rank as follows: Germany (13), the United States and Sweden (17), Republic of Korea (27), Japan (31), France and Chile (32), Italy (34), South Africa (63), Mexico (75), Kenya (82), Indonesia (85), Argentina and Turkey (tied in 107th place), India and Malaysia (tied in 110th place), United Arab Emirates (117), Russia (119), Nigeria (132), China (135), Pakistan (140), Zimbabwe (143), Saudi Arabia (146), Iran (153), Egypt (156), Iraq (159), Venezuela (161), and Syria (162).
Read the full report below.
human-freedom-index-2018-revised
