President Obama: “I Want Us to Be First,” Just Not in Economic Freedom

Ryan Olson / May 16, 2014

At an event earlier this week in New York, President Obama lamented that the United States wasn’t number one in the world for quality of infrastructure:

One study recently found that over time, we’ve fallen to 19th place when it comes to the quality of our infrastructure—19th place. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like America being 19th. I don’t like America being second. I want us to be first when it comes to infrastructure around the world, because businesses are going to come where there’s good infrastructure to move businesses, move people, move services.

Clearly, President Obama doesn’t like to be 19th in the world, let alone second. But if he is so competitive about U.S. standing, why doesn’t he make speeches about something that could really make a difference for all Americans—economic freedom?

A speech by President Obama on economic freedom could look something like this:

One study recently found that over time, we’ve fallen to 12th place when it comes to our economic freedom—12th place. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like America being 12th. I don’t like America being second. I want us to be first when it comes to economic freedom around the world, because businesses are going to come where there’s economic freedom to grow businesses, enrich people, enhance services.

According to the Index of Economic Freedom, co-published by The Wall Street Journal and The Heritage Foundation, the U.S. has fallen to 12th in the world in economic freedom. At one point, we were ranked fourth. If the President doesn’t like the U.S. being ranked even second, he should be downright ashamed of this.

If the President really wants to solve our infrastructure gap and the countless other problems afflicting the U.S. economy, he should start with broad-based solutions that embrace economic freedom. It shouldn’t be too hard for him to start promoting economic freedom. For the President, the bully pulpit is loud and comfortable, and the speech on economic freedom has already been written.