18 - North Shore News - Sunday, February 20, 2000 Worldwide ect Robert Lawson and James Gwartney Fraser Institute Coluimnists IN the intellectual battle between state control of resources and free mar- kets, some argue that the market economy now reins supreme. The Berlin Wall has fallen. Maoism has given way to joint ventures in China. In the U.S. and England, New Democrats and New Labour both claim to support the basics of free markets. The hegemony of free markets appears so com- plete that noted author Francis Fukuyama has declared that * we have arrived at the “End of History.” “Ideology is one thing, reali- :., ty is another. Much of the "world’s population still experi- ‘ gnes insecure property rights, corrupt courts, and arbitrary bureaucracies. Thugs and petty tyrants are only slowly chang- ing their ways. Just how much progress has been made to liberate peo- ple from the yoke of govern- ment contro? For the last decade and a half, we have been involved with more than 100 other researchers in a project to . Measure economic freedom in the world. Our publication Economic Freedom of the World: 2000 Annual Report is the tourth in a series that rates 123 coun- tries in terms of the consisten- ey of their institutions and policies with free market prin- ciples. The report is published by a network of institutes in 55 countries headed by Canada’s Fraser Institute. The economic freedom rat- ings in the report are based on 23 indicators in seven areas: size of government, economic structure and use of markets, monetary policy and price sta- bility, freedom to use alterna- tive currencies, legal structure and security of private awner- ship, frecdom to trade with foreigners, and freedom of exchange in capical markets. In the 2000 Keport, Hong Kong and Singapore shared the top rating of 9.4 on a scale of 10. New Zealand, the United States, and the Gnited Kingdom were next on the list of the five freest economies in the world. The five least free economies (in order from the bottom) were Myanmar (for- merly Burma), Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire}, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, and Madagascar. We were able to calculate economic freedom ratings of many countries every five years since 1970, This makes it pos- sible to examine changes in economic freedom over long periods. The average economic free- dom rating was 6.6 in 1997, up from 5.3 in 1980. Changes in the compo- nents of the index pinpoint the muajor respects in which the world is now freer. Monetary policy has been reined in, and © fewer peuple suffer the devas- tating effects of excessive infla- Make Yourself Heard From Your Living Room. viable to attend Translink’s open ‘hotise i in Surrey on Febrisry 26", . regarding the draft Strategic Transportation Plan? Don't worry, you can “still voice your opinion. TransLink and the Surrey Now are sponsoring a series of Front Room Forums. The concept is simple. It’s like a mini _ epen house, but within your own home. Just you and an informal “gathering of friends, neighbours, ‘and co-workers Yo get things going, each Front Room Forum host will be supplied with: a discussion guide; commentary forms; and of course, refreshments — pizza and beverages. So, if you'd like to host a Front Room Forum, or find out more about the plan call 453-4660. Or visit our website at wunw.transtink.be.ca. And temember, community involvement starts at home. tion, The median inflauon rate of the countries in our study fell trom: 14.5% in 1980 to 5.8% in 1997, Correspondingly, the nun ber of countries with an annu- al inflation rate less than 5% rose trom 10 to 55, Freedom to engage in international trade has also increased, The mean tariff rate imposed by the countries in the study fell from 27% in 1980 to fess than 12% in 1997. On average, the volume | of trade relative to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased by 43% during the last three decades. Exchange and interest rate controls are now much less commen than ia 1980. Although transfer payments and subsidies continue to rise . — averaging 11.3% of GDP in 1997— government consump- tion of goods and services has levelled off. Top marginal tax "that many pnoOMic freedom advancing rates, the rates imposed on a country’s most productive cit- zens, have fallen sharply. In 1980, the average top marginal tax rate was 58%: in” 1997 it was 37%, While Canada’s rates have deelined, | they have not kept up to the pace of reductions set by the rest of the world, making, Canada less competitive. ‘There are astounding dif- ferences in economic and social outcomes between nations that are more econom- ically free and those that are” less free, Life expectancy is 20 years longer for people in the 24 most free countries (the .. top fifth) than in the 24 least free countries (the bottom fifth). Average income per per. son in the top fifth was. $13,0€0 in 1997, compared'to.. less than $2 7000 for the bot- tom fifth. Several countries hav improved remarkably in'eco- nomic freedom, with corre: ; sponaing benefits for their, ople. On our 10- hile’s rating rose’ 13s to 6; 04 in 1985 to 82 i 1997, Chile now ranks 18th; - up from 54th in’1975. Benveen 1985 and:199 Iréland’s rating rose from 6. 758 “to 8.7, and its ranking jum; from 26th to sixth: New: Zealand’s rating rose fom 6: in. 1985 to 9.1 in 1997; this*: makes it the third fréest econ: omy. in the world, up from 32nd in1985. "" The Economic Freedom of. ‘the World: 2000 Asinu Report provides researchers and policy rnakers with the. empirical support needed to document objectively the ” impact of greater or lesser reliance on \ freely operating Although 1 the data show le still Gace g ernments that are re host to private p choice, ary exchange, economic freedom I is advancing, across the world, and the Prospects fk _and prosperity look A: than ever. - - : sity. ‘can be obtained From tse Web si