One always can use think tank reports as measures of some economic contradictions. Cato Institute is no different.
There are some remarkably un-libertarian leaders in economic freedom and if one really wants the US to emulate the highest ranking nations, there could be even less press-freedom and in one case a de facto one-party state.
These seem not quite as libertarian as one might expect, but might explain why Singapore got chosen for the so-called DPRK-USA summit.
Hong Kong and Singapore retain the top two positions with a score of 8.97 and 8.81 out of 10, respectively.
The rest of this year’s top scores are New Zealand, 8.48; Switzerland, 8.44; Ireland, 8.19; the United Kingdom, 8.05; Mauritius, 8.04; Georgia, 8.01; Australia, 7.99; and Estonia, 7.95.
The United States, for decades among the top four countries in the index, ranks 11th.
The rankings of other large economies in this year’s index are Germany (23rd), South Korea (32nd), Japan (39th), France (52nd), Italy (54th), Mexico (76th), India (95th), Russia (100th), China (112th), and Brazil (137th).
The 10 lowest-rated countries are: Iran, Chad, Myanmar, Syria, Libya, Argentina, Algeria, Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, and, lastly, Venezuela.
The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded as the Charles Koch Foundation in 1974 by Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch,[6] chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the conglomerate Koch Industries.[nb
In addition to maintaining its own website in English and Spanish,[28] Cato maintains websites focused on particular topics:
- "Downsizing the Federal Government" contains essays on the size of the U.S. federal government and recommendations for decreasing various programs.[29]
- Libertarianism.org is a website focused on the theory and practice of libertarianism.
- Cato Unbound, a web-only publication that features a monthly open debate between four people. The conversation begins with one lead essay, followed by three response essays by separate people. After that, all four participants can write as many responses and counter-responses as they want for the duration of that month.
- PoliceMisconduct.net contains reports and stories from Cato's National Police Misconduct Reporting Project and the National Police Misconduct News Feed.[30]
- Overlawyered is a law blog on the subject of tort reform run by author Walter Olson.
- HumanProgress.org is an interactive data web project that catalogs increases in prosperity driven by the free market.
- "Public Schooling Battle Map" illustrates different moral conflicts that result from public schooling.[31]