The Heritage Foundation's 2013 Index of Economic Freedom (http://www.heritage.org/index/) has bad, but not surprising, news for the American people. Heritage's Index ranks the world's countries based on whether those countries respect the rule of law, limited government, low taxes, and free markets.
According to the index, the United States has the world's tenth freest economy, behind Denmark and ahead of Ireland. The USA’s score declined from last year -- the fifth consecutive year the USA's score declined. Not coincidentally, the decline began in 2008, the year of the bailouts. Obviously, the big government policies of the past four years, such as massive stimulus spending, Dodd-Frank, and “ObamaCare,” have caused us to lose a great deal of economic freedom. However, it should not be forgotten that in many ways the current administration is building on its predecessor's policies. For example, for all the harm caused by Dodd-Frank, Sarbanes-Oxley may have even been more harmful to the economy. Ultimately, the Bush Administration can only be considered fiscally conservative if compared to its successor.
As the recent debates over the "fiscal cliff" and the debt ceiling show, few elected officials in DC are serious about reversing the trend toward ever-growing government. And as long as the Federal Reserve remains willing to act as the enabler of big government, there is no real incentive for the statists to reduce spending -- after all, it is not the statists who suffer from the "inflation tax"; it is the average American.
The USA's declining performance on the Index of Economic Freedom is more proof that those who understand the dangers to our liberty and prosperity caused by big government need to redouble our efforts. Campaign for Liberty will continue its work to expose how the Federal Reserve impoverishes Americans while Bernanke enriches the statists and his special interest cronies. We’ll also keep endeavoring to repeal statist programs such as ObamaCare and Dodd-Frank, which impede economic growth and job creation, while seeking serious reductions in ALL areas of government spending.
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