Index of Economic Freedom World Rankings
1 Hong Kong
2 Singapore
3 Australia
4 New Zealand
5 Switzerland
6 Canada
7 Ireland
8 Denmark
9 United States
10 Bahrain
http://www.heritage.org/index/Ranking
Meanwhile, the U.S. economy is slowly being strangled by government regulations. We rank a poor 62nd worldwide in the index's "monetary freedom" category because of price distortions caused by excessive regulation in the financial, housing, health, agricultural and transportation sectors. We trail not only Europe in this category, but nations such as Lebanon, Mali and Cambodia as well.
Why does this matter? When you put it all together, it means America is becoming less competitive in the world market. Less competitiveness means slower growth and fewer jobs. And that means less prosperity for all Americans.
Analyses show, with mathematical certainty, that long-term economic growth is associated with higher levels of economic freedom. Unless America changes course, she is heading into economic decline.
The 2011 index puts the decline of American economic freedom in perspective. The United States ranks 122nd out of 179 countries on government spending. That puts us in the bottom third on this measure, along with Brazil, Spain, Libya and Belarus.
This explosion of spending has run up unprecedented total public debt, now approaching 100 percent of the gross domestic product, or GDP. Our deficit for 2010 actually was higher, as a percentage of GDP, than the deficits of Greece or Spain. That additional debt will only make government spending worse, feeding on itself through ever higher interest payments and borrowing.
The index also shows that America has one of the world's most burdensome tax systems. The U.S. scores worse on taxes than on government spending, ranking just 139th in fiscal freedom (which measures taxation). America has the second-highest corporate tax rates in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which includes the U.S., Europe and Japan. Even Canada has lower tax rates than the United States.
Canada, in fact, has an overall economy freer than that of the United States.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jan/12/holmes-us-is-land-of-the-mostly-free-economy/