U.S. Ranked #20 On Freedom Index

By Norm Singleton

The Cato Institute, the Fraser Institute of Canada, and the Liberales Institute of Switzerland recently put out a ranking of the world's freest countries.

Of course, the United States was number one, right? After all we are constantly told by our rulers (oops I mean elected officials) that we are the freest country in the word. In fact, we have so much freedom that the rest of the world hates us for it.

Well no, according to the report, Hong Kong is the freest place in the world. So the US must be the world's second freest nation, right? No, that would be Switzerland. Third? Nope, that would be Finland. Fourth? Nope. Denmark is number four. Fifth? No, that would be New Zealand.

OK, then the United States must have come in the top ten, right? No, not only did the US not come in the top ten, it ranked lower than the home of socialized medicine Canada, which came in at number 6.

So where did the United States rank? 20th!

The Daily Caller provides an explanation of why the US ranks so low on the list of freest countries:

---

Co-author of the report Ian Vasquez told The Daily Caller News Foundation that the steady growth of government and increased regulations of business and labor contribute to the U.S. low rating.

“Since the year 2000, the U.S. has been on a decline in terms of economic freedom,” Vasquez told The DCNF.

The other main reason for the United States’ low rank comes from the “rule of law” measure. Vasquez told TheDCNF that increased invasions of privacy through the war on drugs and war on terror have contributed to the decline in freedom.

Also, the increased use of eminent domain is factored in as a violation of property rights.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2015/08/18/united-states-drops-in-overall-freedom-ranking/#ixzz3jrafxslN

The above article was originally published at The Campaign For Liberty.