Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Politics of Energy -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Road Walker who wrote (1241)	8/8/2008 11:10:11 AM
From: TimF	Respond to of 86355

Singapore regulates personal actions quite a lot, but business activity far less than many other places. -- 2003 "HK, Singapore, top 'economic freedom' index By Jim Lobe WASHINGTON - Hong Kong, Singapore, and the United States rank first, second and third, respectively, in the latest edition of the Economic Freedom of the World annual report" ... Out of a 10-point scale, Hong Kong gained the highest rating for economic freedom at 8.6, closely followed by Singapore at 8.5, the United States at 8.3, and New Zealand and the United Kingdom, both at 8.2. The five other nations in the top 10 were Canada, Switzerland, Ireland, Australia, and the Netherlands. atimes.com You might ask well is it still that way... 2007 Index of Economic Freedom Economic_freedom The Heritage Foundation has published the 2007 Index of Economic Freedom, measures and ranks 161 countries across 10 specific freedoms, including tax rates and property rights [a description of the 10 freedoms is below the fold]. The 10 Most Free Countries (and their freedom scores) are: 1. Hong Kong (89.3%) 2. Singapore (85.7%) 3. Australia (82.7%) 4. United States (82.0%) 5. New Zealand (81.6%) 6. United Kingdom (81.6%) 7. Ireland (81.3%) 8. Luxembourg (79.3%) 9. Switzerland (79.1%) 10. Canada (78.7%) taxprof.typepad.com 2008 Hong Kong and Singapore again head Index of Economic Freedom; Ireland gets third ranking The level of economic freedom found throughout the world remained essentially unchanged over the last year, with overall gains in only two of the five regions examined in the 14th annual Index of Economic Freedom, released today by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal. The 157 nations rated in the new Index received an average economic freedom score of 60.3 (on a scale in which 100 represents the ideal). Global economic freedom has improved 2.6 points since the first Index in 1995. Still, progress is coming, though "more slowly than one might hope," write Index editors Kim Holmes, Edwin Feulner and Mary Anastasia O'Grady. Hong Kong and Singapore finished 1st and 2nd in the rankings for the 14th straight year. With Australia in 4th place and New Zealand at number 6, the Asia-Pacific region boasts four economies in the top 10. Europe placed three countries in the top 10: the United Kingdom, Ireland and Switzerland. The "Americas" region did likewise, with the United States finishing 5th and Canada (7th) and Chile (8th) rounding out the top 10. finfacts.ie