There is a group that does study for almost anything that you could dream of – our fascination with numbers and rankings is just incredible. In this case, a ranking of how economically free each State in the US. The group that produced this report “U.S. Economic Freedom Index 2008” was the Pacific Research Institute,
Here is it’s definition of “economic freedom”:
Economic freedom is the right of individuals to pursue their interests through voluntary exchange of private property under a rule of law. This freedom forms the foundation of market economies. Subject to a minimal level of government to provide safety and a stable legal foundation, legislative or judicial acts that inhibit this right reduce economic freedom. Government acts that advance this right increase economic freedom. This report focuses on state and local government actions as they relate to economic freedom; we do not judge the wisdom, merit, or purpose of specific government programs.
Their methodology:
We gathered data on 143 indicators per state (data set 1, listed in appendix A). This snapshot included tax rates, state spending, occupational licensing, environmental regulations, income redistribution, right-to-work and prevailing-wage laws, and tort reform, to name just a few. Next, we cut some redundant indicators and averaged similar indicators for compactness (appendix B explains this process). This data parsing resulted in five different data sets (data sets 1–5).
The final weighted score was computed with the following equation:
The sector-score weights used to compute the final 2008 index score for each state were: Index = (0.2313 × Fiscal Score) + (0.2159 × Regulatory Score) + (0.1894 × Judicial Score) + (0.1208 × Government-Size Score) + (0.2426 × Welfare-Spending Score)
2008 Rank
State
2004 Rank
1999 Rank
1
South Dakota
15
5
2
Idaho
4
1
3
Colorado
2
14
4
Utah
5
3
5
Wyoming
9
4
6
Nevada
12
20
7
Oklahoma
6
18
8
New Hampshire
7
6
9
Virginia
3
2
10
Kansas
1
10
11
Georgia
19
12
Rest after the jump.
2008 Rank
State
2004 Rank
1999 Rank
12
North Dakota
18
21
13
Montana
21
26
14
Arkansas
23
15
15
Missouri
10
13
16
Alabama
25
11
17
South Carolina
13
16
18
Wisconsin
38
37
19
Mississippi
28
9
20
Delaware
8
7
21
Arizona
11
25
22
Iowa
16
24
23
Indiana
14
22
24
Hawaii
35
39
25
Nebraska
20
23
26
Minnesota
44
43
27
Illinois
46
36
28
Florida
22
30
29
Tennessee
26
19
30
Oregon
29
41
31
Texas
17
8
32
Louisiana
40
31
33
Massachusetts
41
47
34
Maryland
27
35
35
Maine
30
42
36
North Carolina
24
17
37
Washington
31
40
38
West Virginia
32
32
39
Connecticut
48
46
40
Kentucky
39
29
41
New Mexico
37
28
42
Vermont
36
34
43
Michigan
34
27
44
Ohio
43
33
45
Alaska
33
38
46
Pennsylvania
45
45
47
California
49
44
48
New Jersey
42
48
49
Rhode Island
47
49
50
New York
50
50
Nothing contained in this blog is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Pacific Research Institute or as an attempt to thwart or aid the passage of any legislation.
Not bad NH, but can the current leaders stop the slide (I doubt it)?
Skip Murphy
There is a group that does study for almost anything that you could dream of – our fascination with numbers and rankings is just incredible. In this case, a ranking of how economically free each State in the US. The group that produced this report “U.S. Economic Freedom Index 2008” was the Pacific Research Institute,
Here is it’s definition of “economic freedom”:
Economic freedom is the right of individuals to pursue their interests through voluntary exchange of private property under a rule of law. This freedom forms the foundation of market economies. Subject to a minimal level of government to provide safety and a stable legal foundation, legislative or judicial acts that inhibit this right reduce economic freedom. Government acts that advance this right increase economic freedom. This report focuses on state and local government actions as they relate to economic freedom; we do not judge the wisdom, merit, or purpose of specific government programs.
Their methodology:
We gathered data on 143 indicators per state (data set 1, listed in appendix A). This snapshot included tax rates, state spending, occupational licensing, environmental regulations, income redistribution, right-to-work and prevailing-wage laws, and tort reform, to name just a few. Next, we cut some redundant indicators and averaged similar indicators for compactness (appendix B explains this process). This data parsing resulted in five different data sets (data sets 1–5).
The final weighted score was computed with the following equation:
The sector-score weights used to compute the final 2008 index score for each state were: Index = (0.2313 × Fiscal Score) + (0.2159 × Regulatory Score) + (0.1894 × Judicial Score) + (0.1208 × Government-Size Score) + (0.2426 × Welfare-Spending Score)
Rank
Rank
Rank
Rest after the jump.
Rank
Rank
Rank
Nothing contained in this blog is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Pacific Research Institute or as an attempt to thwart or aid the passage of any legislation.
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