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US Slips to Worst-Ever Score in 2023 Index of Economic Freedom

The high-flying Singaporean economy for the third year in a row ranked as the freest in the world in The Heritage Foundation's 2023 Index of Economic Freedom. Pictured: A Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 makes its final approach while landing at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on Nov. 14, 2019. (Photo: Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto/Getty Images)

The Heritage Foundation’s 2023 Index of Economic Freedom, released Monday, offers sobering insights into setbacks to economic freedom across the globe, including, regrettably, here at home.

Since its inception in 1995, the index—an annual global study that compares countries’ entrepreneurial policy environments—has measured a nation’s commitment to limited government and free enterprise by evaluating four critical policy pillars, including the rule of law, fiscal health, and regulatory efficiency.

Over time, the index has documented measurable progress as the cause of freedom has swept the globe, empowering everyday families and workers to thrive and to hold their political authorities accountable.

As Kevin Roberts, president of The Heritage Foundation, succinctly notes in the preface to this year’s index, “Economic freedom is not a gift, however. It must be re-earned every generation. This is the challenge we now face.” (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.)

That timely message is critically relevant to America and the rest of the world, now more than ever.

Here are five key conclusions that can be drawn from the 2023 index.

From a broader policy perspective, as previous editions of the index have explained, economic freedom is not a dogmatic ideology. Economic freedom is valuable as an end in itself and is a vital component of human dignity, autonomy, and personal empowerment. Just as important, however, is the fact that economic freedom provides a proven formula for economic progress and success.

Indeed, the 2023 Index of Economic Freedom demonstrates once again that by conserving and building on what works, and by rewarding a culture of accountability, hard work, and fair competition, countries can revitalize and accelerate their progress against difficult challenges and chart greater economic resilience.

As Roberts unambiguously sums it up in his preface to the 2023 index:

The world and America are at a crossroads. They must choose between the narrow path of self-governance, human dignity, and ordered liberty, or the broad path of an economy run by the managerial elite with no room for dissent or responsibility. One path leads to prosperity, and the other leads to ruin.

The findings and reminders that the 2023 Index of Economic Freedom present are the foundation for that discussion.

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