Economic Freedom Of North America 2021

Fraser Institute, Economic Freedom of North America 2021:

Economic Freedom of North America 2021 is the seventeenth edition of the Fraser Institute’s annual report. This year it measures the extent to which—in 2019, the year with the most recent available comprehensive data—the policies of individual provinces and states were supportive of economic freedom, the ability of individuals to act in the economic sphere free of undue restrictions. There are two indices: one that examines provincial/state and municipal/local governments only and another that includes federal governments as well. The former, our subnational index, is for comparison of individual jurisdictions within the same country. The latter, our allgovernment index, is for comparison of jurisdictions in different countries. ...

Figure 1.2b shows the subnational scores for the US states. After a one-year absence in last year’s report, New Hampshire is again in the top spot with 7.83, followed closely by Tennessee (7.82), then Florida (7.78), Texas (7.75), and Virginia (7.59).3 The least free state was again New York with 4.33, far behind California (4.68), Vermont (4.86), West Virginia (5.00), and New Mexico (5.01).

Dan Mitchell, From New Hampshire to Mexico City, Ranking Economic Freedom in North America