Economic Freedom of the World Rankings and Intellectual Property: The United States’ Bad Ranking is Even Worse Than Reported

"US has fallen in economic freedom rankings "from second in 2000 to eighth in 2005 and 19th  in 2010 (unadjusted ranking of 18th)"."

Economic Freedom of the World Rankings and Intellectual Property: The United States' Bad Ranking is Even Worse Than Reported
by Stephan Kinsella on September 18, 2012

As reported on Economic Freedom, the US has fallen in economic freedom rankings "from second in 2000 to eighth in 2005 and 19th  in 2010 (unadjusted ranking of 18th)".

Economic Freedom of the World: 2012 Annual Report

Earlier today, the Fraser Institute released its "Economic Freedom of the World: 2012 Annual Report." Analyzing data from 144 countries based on 42 distinct variables, the study's authors rank countries according to their relative level of economic freedom.

After ranking 2nd in 2000, the U.S. falls to 18th in this year's report. As the authors explain:

"[T]he United States has fallen precipitously from second in 2000 to eighth in 2005 and 19th  in 2010 (unadjusted ranking of 18th). By 2009, the United States had fallen behind Switzerland, Canada, Australia, Chile, and Mauritius, countries that chose not to follow the path of massive growth in government financed by borrowing that is now the most prominent characteristic of US fiscal policy. By 2010, the United States had also fallen behind Finland and Denmark, two European welfare states. Moreover, it now trails Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Estonia, Taiwan, and Qatar, countries that are not usually perceived of as bastions of economic freedom."

The Fraser Institute's full report is available below and on the Economic Freedom Network website.

(See also Michael Tanner, America's Vanishing Economic Freedom.)

The United States has the worlds most draconian patent and copyright regimes. Since these forms of so-called "intellectual property" are counted as types of "property" (see, e.g., the Fraser Institute, "Country Audits," which indicates that "[e]conomic freedom measures" include "the impartiality of legal systems to protection of intellectual property"), the US no doubt is ranked higher than it ought to be since it is getting points for its aggressive IP system, rather than being dinged for it, as it should be. In other words, the US is really lower than 19th.

The Fraser Institute ought to recognize that intellectual "property" is not a legitimate type of property, and that its enforcement makes legitimate property rights more insecure. The stronger a given IP system, the more the country should be moved down the ranking system. No doubt Fraser thinks it's being neutral by just accepting whatever state legislative schemes are labeled "property", but it is impossible to be neutral. Accepting a given law as a type of property right takes a normative and economic position about it: by including IP in the measure of a country's protection of property rights for this study is to say that IP is a good thing, is a legitimate property rights, and contributes to "economic freedom." Imagine if some country still had chattel slavery in place, with human slaves recognized as property. Should its strong enforcement of runaway slave laws be counted as a positive in terms of its having economic freedom and a strong property rights system? I think not. And the same with IP. IP restricts economic freedom and competition, and violates property rights.

http://c4sif.org/2012/09/economic-freedom-of-the-world-indexes-and-intellectual-property-the-united-states-bad-ranking-is-even-worse-than-reported/