Category Archives: America

Hong Kong Named World’s Freest Economy

America, China, Economy, Free Markets, Political Economy

Give me economic freedom over overrated, so-called political liberty anytime.

There’s nothing new about the annual report released by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal crowning Hong Kong as the world’s freest economy. Hong Kong has been so honored for 15 consecutive years.

This via Yahoo News:

“The Chinese territory, known for its low taxes and looser regulations, was followed by Singapore, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, according to this year’s Index of Economic Freedom.

European countries again accounted for half of the top 20 economies considered free or mostly free, with Switzerland at No. 9 and the U.K. at No. 10.

However, the U.S. slid one notch to sixth place, dinged for increased government spending and tax revenue as a percentage of gross domestic product, one of the survey’s authors said.

Ranking at the bottom was North Korea, followed by next-to-last Zimbabwe, Cuba, Myanmar and Eritrea. The southern African country, whose economy is in meltdown after years of state-endorsed violence and business controls, posted the biggest drop in this year’s report.”

[SNIP]

Again: Forced to choose between “political liberty” and economic freedom, I’d choose the latter, always.

As I once wrote, “freedom will have arrived when elections don’t matter. I’ll consider myself free when … I can sleep through a federal election, because, … Democrat or Republican – in a free society neither will be able to unjustly tamper with me or take what is rightfully mine.”

Hong Kong Named World's Freest Economy

America, China, Free Markets, Political Economy

Give me economic freedom over overrated, so-called political liberty anytime.

There’s nothing new about the annual report released by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal crowning Hong Kong as the world’s freest economy. Hong Kong has been so honored for 15 consecutive years.

This via Yahoo News:

“The Chinese territory, known for its low taxes and looser regulations, was followed by Singapore, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, according to this year’s Index of Economic Freedom.

European countries again accounted for half of the top 20 economies considered free or mostly free, with Switzerland at No. 9 and the U.K. at No. 10.

However, the U.S. slid one notch to sixth place, dinged for increased government spending and tax revenue as a percentage of gross domestic product, one of the survey’s authors said.

Ranking at the bottom was North Korea, followed by next-to-last Zimbabwe, Cuba, Myanmar and Eritrea. The southern African country, whose economy is in meltdown after years of state-endorsed violence and business controls, posted the biggest drop in this year’s report.”

[SNIP]

Again: Forced to choose between “political liberty” and economic freedom, I’d choose the latter, always.

As I once wrote, “freedom will have arrived when elections don’t matter. I’ll consider myself free when … I can sleep through a federal election, because, … Democrat or Republican – in a free society neither will be able to unjustly tamper with me or take what is rightfully mine.”

How Did The US Become ‘A Proto-Soviet Surveillance State?’

America, Communism, Socialism, The Military, The State, War

Fred Reed demands to know “What Have the Bastards Done to My Country?”:

“This is the country that produced Peggy Lee and Tampa Red and the ‘fitty-sedden Chevy, the country that spits techno-whizz golf carts onto Mars just like it was even possible, that brought the hamburger to gorgeous bejuiced perfection and invented most of the modern world. It’s the home of sand-lot baseball and Little Peggy March and BB guns and Tasty Freeze. It is, in a phrase, one fine place.”

“How did it sink to being a proto-Soviet surveillance state that builds vast awful Visitor Centers in the style of a Hitlerian mauseoleum [sic]? You can’t go to the john without a photo ID anymore. Something ain’t right.”

Reeds’ “Thoughts in an Insurrectionist Vein” are “here.

How Did The US Become 'A Proto-Soviet Surveillance State?'

America, Communism, Socialism, The Military, The State, War

Fred Reed demands to know “What Have the Bastards Done to My Country?”:

“This is the country that produced Peggy Lee and Tampa Red and the ‘fitty-sedden Chevy, the country that spits techno-whizz golf carts onto Mars just like it was even possible, that brought the hamburger to gorgeous bejuiced perfection and invented most of the modern world. It’s the home of sand-lot baseball and Little Peggy March and BB guns and Tasty Freeze. It is, in a phrase, one fine place.”

“How did it sink to being a proto-Soviet surveillance state that builds vast awful Visitor Centers in the style of a Hitlerian mauseoleum [sic]? You can’t go to the john without a photo ID anymore. Something ain’t right.”

Reeds’ “Thoughts in an Insurrectionist Vein” are “here.