Wall Street Journal, November 24, 2004

Retiring to the sofa after turkey dinner tomorrow, most Americans may feel they have little in common with the Pilgrims of Plymouth Rock. But one defining feature of 17th-century Americans remains: We still migrate for freedom.

American mobility is legendary and the notion that it is driven by a desire for liberty is the basis for the methodology behind the Pacific Research Institute's U.S. Economic Freedom Index released last week. Kansas is America's freest state while New York -- home of the Statue of Liberty -- ranks at the bottom.

U.S. ECONOMIC FREEDOM INDEX

Pacific Research Institute ranks the 50 States.

The Index uses five categories -- fiscal, regulatory, judicial, government size and welfare -- to measure and compare economic freedom in the 50 states. Among the variables are tax rates, state spending, occupation licensing, environmental regulations, income redistribution, right-to-work laws, minimum wage and tort law. Co-author Lawrence McQuillan writes that Kansas won the top spot "largely due to its respect for property rights: It engages in less income redistribution and attracts less tort litigation than most states."

Along with the Heritage Foundation, we publish a world-wide index that over the years has underscored the essential link between economic freedom and prosperity. And sure enough, the Pacific Research Institute study finds that a 10% improvement in a state's economic freedom score yields, on average, about a half-percent increase in annual per-capita income.

If all states were as free as Kansas, the annual income of the average American worker would increase 4.42%, or $1,161. Over a 40-year period, that would add $87,541 to a lifetime income. The Index highlights one of the great attributes of America that we can all be thankful for. States have to compete for their human capital and when they fail Americans can vote with their feet.