Heritage Foundation: U.S. Dropped from No. 6 in Economic Freedom to No. 11 under Obama
As reported in CNSNEWS.COM:
According to the 2016 Index of Economic Freedom, an annual publication by The Heritage Foundation, America’s economic freedom has fallen from the 6th freest economy in the world, when President Barack Obama took office, to 11th place in 2016.
America’s score in the index is related to rising government spending, subsidies, and bailouts. Somebody has to be forced to pay for it.
- Government spending amounts to $29,867 per household in 2015.
- The national debt is $125,000 for every tax-filing household in America—totaling more than $18 trillion.
- The government takeover of health care is raising prices and disrupting markets.
As Anthony B. Kim, writes for CNSNEWS.COM “Economic freedom is the foundation of U.S. economic strength, and economic strength is the foundation of America’s high living standards, military power, and status as a world leader. The perils of losing economic freedom are not fictional.”
The Wall Street Journal recently wrote, Obama is “a champion when it comes to limiting economic freedom, and American workers have the slow growth in jobs and wages to prove it.”
- The U.S. has the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world. This has driven new jobs to other, more competitive nations and has meant fewer jobs and lower wages for Americans.
- The annual cost of meeting regulatory requirements has increased by over $80 billion since 2009, with more than 180 new regulations in place. In terms of ease of starting a new business, analyzed by a recently published World Bank report, the U.S. is ranked at 49th, trailing countries such as Canada, Georgia, Ireland, Lithuania, and Malaysia.
The labor force participation rate has remained at near record lows after five years of steady decline.
Entrepreneurial growth has been stymied by greater governmental policy uncertainty and mounting debt. And a disturbing trend toward cronyism has gravely eroded the rule of law and distorted our free-market system.
“2016 is the year to reaffirm the principles of limited government, free enterprise, and rule of law so that we can reconstitute an America where freedom, opportunity, and prosperity flourish,” Kim wrote.
Anthony B. Kim researches international economic issues at The Heritage Foundation and is the research manager of the Index of Economic Freedom, the flagship product of the Heritage Foundation in partnership with The Wall Street Journal.
