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We’re Number One
…in the Global
Index of Economic Mentality! The Atlas Network is an umbrella
group of free market think tanks. It’s measured how strongly people in
different countries favour free markets and personal responsibility.
The number one country? New Zealand. Rounding out the top five are (2)
the Czech Republic, (3) Sweden, (4) the United States and (5)
Denmark.
At The Other End
The bottom five countries, where people believe less in free
markets and personal responsibility, are: Bosnia, Bangladesh, Myanmar,
Montenegro and Azerbaijan. Lovely places we are sure, but we think
life is better with less government and more personal responsibility.
In case you are interested, the Aussies came in 9th and the
Argentinians 63rd. They’ll have to win a lot of rugby to make up for
that.
But A Twist…
The index also splits into over 40s and under 40s. If only the
younger people are counted, the top five countries are (1) Czech
Republic, (2) Romania, (3) Estonia, (4) Georgia and (5) Poland. It
seems growing up with communist parents makes you yearn for free
markets. But it works the other way, too. New Zealand boomers ushered
in the Rogernomics revolution, and now we have the second biggest gap
between young and old.
Why The Difference?
One obvious answer is that the school system is preaching left-wing
ideals. There are some great people teaching in New Zealand, but look
at the set up. A teacher gets all of their consumables delivered free
of charge, doesn’t lose income if their class shrinks (in fact they
campaign for smaller classes) and government policy deliberately
prevents competition in education. The classroom is hardly a place to
learn about free markets.
But Wait
Every generation since at least the 1930s has had basically the
same education. Every generation thinks the next is sliding into
indolence, so it’s not obvious that’s it. Free Press readers
won’t be surprised to learn we think it’s the combination of loose
monetary policy and state control over land development that’s led a
whole generation to believe the system doesn’t work for
them.
Do These Results Predict Reality?
It’s not perfect, but countries that believe in freedom are usually
freer. The Fraser
Institute consistently ranks New Zealand third freest behind Hong
Kong and Singapore, ahead of Switzerland and Australia. But economic
freedom (free trade, small government, free trade, property rights,
and flexible labour markets) has stalled. The world is no freer than
before the GFC. Dark times.
What About
Democracy?
Since the GFC, democracy’s gone backwards too. Freedom
House, another think tank, measures how many countries are
democratic. It says: Between 1988 and 2005, the percentage of
countries ranked Not Free in Freedom in the World dropped by almost 14
points (from 37 to 23 percent), while the share of Free countries grew
(from 36 to 46 percent). This surge of progress has now begun to roll
back. Between 2005 and 2018, the share of Not Free countries rose to
26 percent, while the share of Free countries declined to 44
percent.
The Upshot
Taking a break from New Zealand’s policy troubles for a week,
freedom and democracy are gradually receding globally, and the next
generation doesn’t look like it’s going to reverse the trend. We have
a lot to fight for. A free and democratic world is also a safe and
prosperous one for a small trading nation.
Freedom
Matters
We have lots of evidence that freer societies are better at
achieving all sorts of things that even the left agree are worth it.
Wealthier, healthier, fairer societies come from freedom and
democracy. As F.A.
Hayek said: 'We must make the building of a free society once
more an intellectual adventure, a deed of
courage.'
We’re Up For It
Are you? If you believe in free enterprise and personal
responsibility over state control and dependency, we hope you’ll join
us. ACT works every day to promote the values of a free society that
make our country great. If you agree, please
join ACT. If you’re already a member, please
donate to our cause.
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