December 18, 2019

The Human Freedom Index 2019

Global freedom has continued its slight decline since 2008, according to the fifth annual Human Freedom Index (HFI), the most comprehensive measure of freedom ever created for a large number of countries around the globe. Notably, New Zealand tops the rankings this year, followed by Switzerland. The United States ranks 15th.

The index, co-published by the Cato Institute, the Fraser Institute in Canada, and the Liberales Institut at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom in Germany, ranks 162 countries based on 76 distinct indicators of personal, civil, and economic freedom, using data from 2008 to 2017, the most recent year for which sufficient data are available.

• The Human Freedom Index
  By Ian Vasquez and Tanja Porčnik 

Welcome to Sphere

The Cato Institute and the Brookings Institution have launched Sphere, an online series to discuss contentious public policy issues in a civil and engaging manner.

This new series features discussions on “Should drug prohibition be ended nationwide?” “When should the U.S. use military force?” and “Should the Supreme Court overturn more laws?” The episodes feature Cato’s Trevor Burrus, Emma Ashford, and Ilya Shapiro debating scholars from the Brookings Institution, the Heritage Foundation, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the Constitutional Accountability Center.

The objective of Sphere is to create the gold standard for civil discussions on leading public policy issues—to lower the temperature, without abandoning our deeply held ideas and principles.

• Welcome to Sphere 

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