US economic freedom score plunges amid expanding government
Economic freedom in the United States is at its lowest in nearly 30 years, according to a report last week by Washington, D.C. think tank The Heritage Foundation.
Heritage defines economic freedom as “the fundamental right of every human to control his or her own labor and property”. When a society is economically free, “individuals are free to work, produce, consume, and invest in any way they please”.
US economic freedom has dropped significantly according to the Heritage’s Economic Freedom Index which measures economic freedom in countries around the world. The US recorded a score of 70.6 for 2023, a 1.5-point decrease from the year before and the lowest score in the index’s 29-year history.
The index also ranks the US in 25th place among other countries after it dropped from 20th place in 2022. The top five economically free countries are Singapore, followed by Switzerland, Ireland, Taiwan, and New Zealand.
"The world and America are at a crossroads. Too many countries have renounced basic economic principles leaving communities to suffer the consequences. They must choose either the narrow path of self-governance, human dignity, and ordered liberty, or the broad path of an economy run by the managerial elite with no room for dissent or responsibility. One path leads to prosperity, and the other leads to ruin,” said Heritage Foundation President Dr. Kevin Roberts in a statement last week.
The report pointed to the Biden administration’s “ill-informed economic and entrepreneurial policies and unchecked deficit spending” as a contributor to the decline in economic freedom.
“As documented once again in the 2023 Index, economic freedom is both valuable as an end itself and a vital component of human dignity, autonomy, and personal empowerment,” said Heritage Foundation Research Fellow and Economic Freedom Index Editor Anthony Kim.
“This is why the ‘repressed’ economy of the Communist Chinese Party ranked 154th out of 176 countries. The country’s low rating exposes a badly flawed economic and political governance model that has been unambiguously elevated over the past five years by the authoritarian political ideology and loyalty to the regime. America and its willing allies still have time to counter China’s anti-freedom influence, but Washington cannot win the battle of ideas without prioritizing economic freedom.”
Kim also noted that radical ESG ideology, which has been adopted by the Biden administration and America’s largest institutions, remains a threat to economic freedom.
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) is a form of grading companies and countries — and soon people, experts warn — based on how well they conform to prevailing narratives on environmental and social issues. For example, the more “environmentally friendly” or “racially inclusive” a company purports to be, the more virtuous it is and thus more worthy of investment. If a company’s ESG score is below certain thresholds, they are not to be invested in at all.
ESG ideology, which has come to mostly refer to environmentalism and “climate change," dictates that a company’s profits must sometimes take a backseat to saving the weather.
Proponents of ESG include lawmakers, the world’s largest investment firms, and tech giants. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, who manages $10 trillion in wealth, vowed to “force behaviors” on ESG.
“As documented once again in the 2023 index, economic freedom correlates significantly with overall well-being, which includes such factors as health, education, the environment, innovation, societal progress, and democratic governance. On these critical public policy implications, it should be reminded that economic freedom—not the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) agenda—makes America and the world cleaner, safer, and better governed. The true path to ensuring environmental, social, and governance improvements lies in focusing on policies that enhance economic freedom,” added Kim.
