The Most Pro-Capitalism Place in N. America? Surprise…It’s not the United States: Daniel Mitchell
The most economically free state in North America isn’t a state. It’s a Canadian province. The United States is losing ground in free enterprise to what was once dismissed as a Europe style social democracy. Stunningly beautiful, stunningly free
http://www.thecommentator.com/article/4450/the_most_pro_capitalism_place_in_n_america_surprise
Back in February, I said Australia probably was the country most likely to survive and prosper as much of the world suffered fiscal collapse and social chaos.
In hindsight, I probably should have mentioned Canada as an option, in part because of pro-growth reforms in the past two decades that have significantly reduced the burden of government spending.
And I’ve already acknowledged that Canada has passed the United States in the Economic Freedom of the World rankings.
So I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised to learn that the most economically free state in North America isn’t a state. It’s a Canadian province. Here’s a map from a new report showing how sub-national jurisdictions rate for economic freedom.
And here’s the ranking for economic freedom in states and provinces. As you can see, Alberta and Saskatchewan are in the top two spots, followed by the American states of Delaware, Texas, and Nevada.
Interestingly, Canadian provinces also held the bottom two slots, with Prince Edward Island being last and Nova Scotia second to last. The worst American states are New Mexico, West Virginia, and Mississippi.
But the previous table looks at the combined impact of national and sub-national government policies.
If you look at the policies that sub-national governments actually control, the rankings change a bit. Alberta still comes in first place, but Saskatchewan plummets.
Meanwhile, the best American state is South Dakota, followed by Tennessee, Delaware, and Texas.
Canadian provinces dominate the bottom of the rankings, with Quebec coming in last place (too many language police?).
The worst American state is New York, which isn’t a big surprise. And since Vermont was the top state in the Moocher Index, it’s also hardly a shock that it’s the next worst state.
One pattern you may have noticed is that American states without income taxes tend to be near the top of the list.
So does this mean that I’ve changed my mind and I’ll escape to Alberta when a future President Elizabeth Warren destroys America? Mehh….it’s still too cold for my tastes. Freedom is important, but I want someplace where I can play softball more than two months per year.
P.S. As this joke indicates, American leftists used to think about escaping to Canada. Times sure have changed.
Daniel J. Mitchell is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute, the free-market, Washington D.C. think tank. This article is cross-posted from his blog by agreement
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