2012世界经济自由度指数

1、Chapter 2Economic Freedom: Global and Regional PatternsAnthony B. KimThe struggle for greater economic freedom has intensified this year as governments have had to cope simultaneously with a financial crisis and slower world growth, and in some cases political instability and unsustain-able levels o

2、f debt as well. The temptation for some has been to impose ever greater controls, eroding previous gains in economic freedom. As a result, the global average economic freedom score has declined by 0.2 point in the 2012 Index. Of the 179 economies graded in the 2012 Index, only five have sustained ve

3、ry high freedom scores of 80 or more, putting them in the “free” category. Canada has dropped into the “mostly free” category this year, joining 22 other coun-tries at that level. Thus, a total of only 28 coun-tries, or about 16 percent of all countries graded, have economic systems in which individ

4、ualsenjoy substantial levels of freedom.At the opposite end of the scale, the number of countries with scores (below 50) that rank them as “repressed” also declined, from 32 to just 29.The largest portion of the countries graded112Global Distribution ofEconomic FreedomNumber of Countries in Each Cat

5、egory2011 Index2012 Index57625760272332296 5FreeMostlyModeratelyMostlyRepressedFreeFreeUnfreeSources: Terry Miller, Kim R. Holmes, and Edwin J. Feulner, 2012 Index of Economic Freedom (Washington, D.C.: The Heritage Foundation and Dow Jones & Company, Inc., 2012), at /index.Chart 1 h

6、21The Ten Economic Freedoms: A Global LookScore ChangesRULE OF LAWLIMITEDREGULATORYOPEN MARKETSGOVERNMENTEFFICIENCYProperty Rights0.2Fiscal Freedom+0.6Business Freedom+0.4Trade Freedom0.3Freedom from0.1Government4.1Labor Freedom0Investment Freedom +0.5CorruptionSpendingMonetary Freedom+1.

7、0Financial Freedom+0.1RULE OF LAWProperty Rights43.4Freedom from Corruption40.4020406080100The rule of law has weakened. The global economy has been in tumultuous times, and there have been a number of large scale demonstrations around the world. Some governments con-tinue to justify expropriations

8、and nationalizations on the basis of the ongoing financial and economic turmoil. Thirteen countries property rights scores declined. Scores for freedom from corruption continue to lag behind those of other components of economic freedom.LIMITED GOVERNMENTFiscal Freedom 76.9Government Spending 59.802

9、0406080100The average top individual income tax rate is 28.6 percent, and the average top corporate tax rate is 24.8 percent. The average overall tax burden as a percentage of GDP is 23 percent. The average level of government spending as a percentage of GDP is 35.2 percent. Many govern-ments have r

10、un budget deficits in recent years, with rising public debt. The average level of gross public debt as a percentage of GDP in advanced economies is over 90 percent.REGULATORY EFFICIENCYBusiness Freedom 64.7Labor Freedom61.4Monetary Freedom 74.4020406080100Many economies have continued to streamline

11、and modernize their business frameworks. Globally, starting a business takes seven procedures and 30 days, while completing licensing requirements takes an average of 194 days. For the world as a whole, labor reform progress has considerably slowed. The 2012 Index registered a continued improvement

12、in monetary freedom as a result of reduced inflationary pressures.OPENTrade Freedom74.5MARKETSInvestment Freedom50.7Financial Freedom48.6020406080100Global trade freedom is stuck in neutral or, even worse, may actually be rolling backward. Al-though progress was uneven, investment freedom advanced i

13、n the 2012 Index. Overall, the average financial freedom score remained essentially unchanged from the past year. Despite some progress toward stability, the global financial system has been under considerable strain, in large part because of the ongoing European sovereign debt turmoil.222012 Index

14、of Economic FreedomEconomic Freedom by Region, with PopulationIndex of EconomicCircle sizes are relative= 500 million peopleFreedom Scoreto regions population85NorthNorth80AmericaAmerica7373.8875EuropeEurope70SouthSouth anandd6666.11443443 mmillionillionMiddleMiddle East/East/CentralCentralAsiaAsia-

15、PacificPacificAmerica/America/655757.55NorthNorth AfricaAfricaCaribbeanCaribbeanSubSub-SaharanSaharan5959.996060.00813813 mmillionillion60 AfricaAfrica5353.77334 million460 million5533.77 billbillionion50768768 mmillionillionSources: Terry Miller, Kim R. Holmes, and Edwin J. Feulner, 2012 Index of E

16、conomic Freedom (Washington, D.C.: The Heritage Foundation and Dow Jones & Company, Inc., 2012), at /index, and International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Databases, at /external/ns/cs.aspx?id=28 (November 21, 2011).Chart 2 economieshave freedom

17、scores between 50 andwith many countries enhancing monetary stabil-70. Of those, 62 economies are “moderately free”ity by getting inflationary pressure under control.(scores of 6070), and 60 are “mostly unfree”Regional Variations(scores of 5060).As shown in “The Ten Economic Freedoms:Each of the wor

18、lds regions has registered atA Global Look” on the previous page, the declineleast one country that is ranked among the topof economic freedom was most pronounced in20 freest economies in the 2012 Index. Averagethe area of respect for limited government. Thelevels of economic freedom, however, vary

19、wide-soundness of public finance has severely dete-ly among the regions, and there are some starkriorated, particularly in advanced economies, asdifferences in regional economic performance.a result of years of heavy government spendingIndeed, countries often share certain character-that has led to

20、rising levels of public debt and eco-isticscultural, geographical, historical, or oth-nomic stagnation. Scores also fell overall in theerswith their regional neighbors that may helpcategory of rule of law due to intensified corrup-to shed light on the particular challenges to eco-tion and the erosio

21、n of respect for property rights.nomic freedom that their citizens face. As shownOverall, scores for most of the economic freedomsin Chart 2, economic freedom varies noticeablyrelated to regulatory efficiency and open marketsby region, with inhabitants of North America andimproved slightly, although

22、 labor freedom record-Europe continuously enjoying greater levels ofed no score change and trade freedom declined.economic freedom than those who live in otherThe largest average gain was in monetary freedom,regions of the world.Chapter 223Per Capita Income by RegionGDP per Capita (Purchasing Power

23、Parity)Five Most FreeFive Least Free$50,000$46,593$40,830$39,063$40,000$30,000$25,198$20,000$13,595$8,989$8,243$10,000$7,885$3,400$1,514$0EuropeAsia-PacificMiddle East andAmericasSub-SaharanNorth AfricaAfricaSources: Terry Miller, Kim R. Holmes, and Edwin J. Feulner, 2012 Index of Economic Freedom (

24、Washington, D.C.:The Heritage Foundation and Dow Jones & Company, Inc., 2012), at /index; World Bank Group, World Development Indicators Online, at /WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/0,menuPK:476823pagePK: 64165236piPK:64165141theSitePK:469372,00.html (November 4, 2011);

25、 and International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Databases, at /external/ns/cs.aspx?id=28 (November 4, 2011).Chart 3 In every region, economic freedom is the key to greater opportunity and prosperity. Despite varying degrees of economic freedom across the regions

26、, the relationship between economic freedom and prosperity is consistent within the regions: Per capita incomes are much higher in countries that are economically free. (See Chart 3.)Not surprisingly, overall human development also thrives in an environment that is economi-cally free. Economic freed

27、om is about more than a business environment in which entrepreneur-ship and prosperity can flourish. Across all of the regions, as demonstrated in Chart 4, higher eco-nomic freedom induces greater overall human development as measured by the United Nations Human Development Index, which assesses the

28、 combined progress of life expectancy, literacy, education, and the standard of living.Diverging Regional PatternsWhile the global average score for the 2012Index has declined over the past year, economic freedom has continued to advance in the Sub-Saharan Africa and AsiaPacific regions.The North Am

29、erica region recorded the larg-est score decline of 1.3 points, with every coun-try in the region losing more than half a point. Europe and the Middle East and North Africa regions tied for the second greatest loss of eco-nomic freedom on average, down seven-tenths of a point. The South and Central

30、America/Carib-bean region also showed a score decline of 0.2 point. (See Chart 5.)Table 1 shows components of economic free-dom in which regions perform better or worse than the world averages.Every region has two or more components in which the average level of economic freedom falls below the worl

31、d average. The North Amer-ica region recorded considerable drops in fiscal freedom and the scores for government spend-ing, both of which trail world averages. European242012 Index of Economic FreedomEconomic Freedom and Human Development by RegionEach dot represents a nation in the Index of Economi

32、c FreedomAsiaPacificEurope1.00HumanDevelopment0.75Index0.500.25GlobalLineTrend01.000.750.500.250203040506070809020304050607080902012 Index of Economic Freedom ScoreMiddle East/North AfricaNorth America1.001.000.750.750.500.500.250.250020304050607080902030405060708090South and Central America/Caribbe

33、anSub-Saharan Africa1.001.000.750.750.500.500.250.250020304050607080902030405060708090Global Correlation = 0.70, R2 = 0.49Sources: Terry Miller, Kim R. Holmes, and Edwin J. Feulner, 2012 Index of Economic Freedom (Washington, D.C.:The Heritage Foundation and Dow Jones & Company, Inc., 2012), at www.

34、/index; and Human Development Reports, United Nations Human Development Programme, at /en/reports (November 21, 2011).Note: Trend lines are for all countries in the Index of Economic Freedom.Chart 4Chapter 225Comparing Regional Average Scores to the Global A

35、verageAbove or Equal to Global AverageBelow Global AverageSouth andMiddleNorthCentralEast/Sub-GLOBALAmerica/NorthAsia-SaharanAmericaEuropeCaribbeanAfricaPacificAfricaAVERAGEOverall73.866.159.959.560.057.553.7Rule of Law43.4Property Rights75.061.340.941.238.731.2Freedom from Corruption63.755.539.340.

36、936.129.340.4Limited Government76.9Fiscal Freedom76.672.478.087.779.574.0Government Spending55.635.570.160.966.769.759.8Regulatory E ciency64.7Business Freedom89.977.562.766.264.751.6Labor Freedom79.661.461.161.665.956.561.4Monetary Freedom77.078.375.373.173.471.574.4Open Markets74.5Trade Freedom82.

37、485.573.376.770.767.2Investment Freedom68.369.951.245.638.044.650.7Financial Freedom70.063.747.945.341.541.148.6Sources: Terry Miller, Kim R. Holmes, and Edwin J. Feulner, 2012 Index of Economic Freedom (Washington, D.C.: The Heri-tage Foundation and Dow Jones & Company, Inc., 2012), at www.heritage

38、.org/index.Table 1 finance management thatOne-Year Freedom Score Changeresult from years of financ-Change in Score Since 2011ing ever growing welfareRegion Index of Economic Freedomstates. Rigid labor regula-Sub-Saharan Africa+0.2tions also continue to ham-AsiaPacific+0.1per the regions

39、freedom,South and Central America/Caribbean0.2raising unemployment ratesMiddle East/North Africa0.7and hurting job growth.Europe1.30.7South and Central Amer-North Americaica/Caribbean countries lagSources: Terry Miller, Kim R. Holmes, and Edwin J. Feulner, 2012 Index ofbehind world averages in sixco

40、mponents of economicEconomic Freedom (Washington, D.C.: The Heritage Foundation and Dow Jones &Company, Inc., 2012), at /index.freedom, particularly free-Chart 5 dom from corruption andproperty rights, both criticalto sustaining the rule of law.countries fall over four points below the worldThe Middle East/North A