Hong Kong, World's Freest Economy 42 Years Running

I guess some things in life are inevitable: Canada's Fraser Institute, watchdog of economic freedom the world over, has designated the special administrative region (formerly a crown colony) of Hong Kong the world's freest economy for a 42nd consecutive year.  This matter is of special interest given how HK's most famous businessman is warning that too much clamor for political freedom may dent this vaunted reputation for economic freedom. Think of the political free-for-all Stateside--a moronic version of political expression from all sides--and you catch his drift.

Speaking of which, the United States is zooming down the index at a rapid clip. Talk about American decline:

Hong Kong again topped the rankings of 151 countries and territories, followed by Singapore, New Zealand, and Switzerland in the Fraser Institute’s annual Economic Freedom of the World report. The United States, once considered a bastion of eco nomic freedom, now ranks 17th in the world. “Unfortunately for the United States, we’ve seen overspending, weakening rule of law, and regulatory overkill on the part of the U.S . government, causing its economic freedom score to plummet in recent years.

This is a stark contrast from 2000, when the U.S. was considered one of the most economically free nations and ranked second globally,” said Fred McMahon, Dr. Michael A. Walker Research Chair in Economic Freedom with the Fraser Institute. 

Despite how bad things are in the godawful US of A, there is always worse. Venezuela ranks dead last. Fortunately for it, the likes of Cuba and North Korea were not surveyed for lack of data:

Venezuela has the lowest level of economic freedom worldwide, with Myanmar, Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, and Chad rounding out the bottom five countries. Some nations, like North Korea and Cuba, could not be ranked because of a lack of data.

The Fraser Institute gives me a new tagline for the United States: America, where you can have as much TP as you want! So it's not quite the commercial success story that's Hong Kong, but things could be rather worse...