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What are the free-est economies in the world?

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Prateek Sanjay Posted: Thu, Nov 5 2009 9:57 AM

Your own brief list.

Your own criteria.

Don't necessarilly go by Index of Economic Freedom reports.

Also, I refer to the word "free-est", which is hence a relative term, and I do not necessarilly mean only those which can be considered free in absolute terms.

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Snowflake replied on Thu, Nov 5 2009 11:38 AM

Teh internetz. Where competition has driven costs of most services to zero.

Free mail, free TV, free anything software related.

Also vendors of material goods can easily be compared using metasearches and the googles. i.e. more competition.

"It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes. But the half-wit remains a half-wit and the emperor remains an emperor." ~Dream

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Snowflake:
Teh internetz. Where competition has driven costs of most services to zero.

Yes

 

 

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Snowflake:
Teh internetz. Where competition has driven costs of most services to zero.

Free mail, free TV, free anything software related.

Also vendors of material goods can easily be compared using metasearches and the googles. i.e. more competition.

And that will be the next thing the State attacks as "unfair" or "predatory".

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Snowflake replied on Thu, Nov 5 2009 12:01 PM

K.C. Farmer:
And that will be the next thing the State attacks as "unfair" or "predatory".
Even the chinese government can't block you if you go through a web proxy.

Although britain is reviewing legislation that would ban users from the internet if they do anything illegal.....

"It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes. But the half-wit remains a half-wit and the emperor remains an emperor." ~Dream

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Snowflake:
Although britain is reviewing legislation that would ban users from the internet if they do anything illegal.....

If people grow a pair, there are massive swathes of the earth where no such ridiculous positive laws are being proposed.  Leave Britain.  Leave America when it becomes so ridiculously tyrannical.  Go somewhere else where you can live a life you like, and can influence change in the system or culture.

If you find something evil that wobbles, push it. - Gary North

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Liechtenstein is my favourite

http://www.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/Buchel-11-00/buchel-11-00.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liechtenstein

The difference between libertarianism and socialism is that libertarians will tolerate the existence of a socialist community, but socialists can't tolerate a libertarian community.

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In Europe, Switzerland and Slovakia seem to arguably have the freest economies, with relatively low levels of government spending: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Depense-publique-sur-PIB.png

According to Fraser, the bluer countries are more free economically, and the red ones are less: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/GM_-_Countries_by_Economic_Freedom_Index.png

Similar color scheme used by Heritage: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Index_of_Economic_Freedom_2009.png

This article talks about different countries and freedom in general, economic and otherwise: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_indices_of_freedom

As for my personal opinion on the freest country in the world (economically), I have heard various things, such as Hong Kong, Switzerland, Ireland, and Singapore.

Periodically the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots.

Thomas Jefferson

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jct181 replied on Thu, Nov 5 2009 8:10 PM

Hong Kong and Singapore.

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Doesn't Ireland have a vast swath of mandatory holidays?

I would say Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Estonia, the United Arab Emirates, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Chile, Nauru, Costa Rica, the Cayman Islands, Panama, Monaco and Sealand, in no particular order.

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ama gi replied on Thu, Nov 5 2009 9:01 PM

Switzerland, Lichenstein, Costa Rica, Andorra

"As long as there are sovereign nations possessing great power, war is inevitable."

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Praetyre:

Doesn't Ireland have a vast swath of mandatory holidays?

I would say Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Estonia, the United Arab Emirates, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Chile, Nauru, Costa Rica, the Cayman Islands, Panama, Monaco and Sealand, in no particular order.

They very well could, I never thought about that.

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Praetyre:

Doesn't Ireland have a vast swath of mandatory holidays?

2 weeks paid holiday per year. One of the lowest legally stipulated minimum holidays in the EU

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Hong Kong is almost certainly the freest economy in the world. Regardless of what people claim the USA remains one of the freest and its future prospects aren't as dire as in Europe (although they are undoubtedly bad).

 

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