Since this class is about economic freedom, I decided
to look at the United States economic freedom rankings compared to other
counties around the world. As of 2020 the United States has a score of 76.6 and
has an overall ranking of 17th in the world according to the Index
of Economic freedom. The United States economic freedom score has declined for
the past 10 years. Some reasons for the decline include the current
administrations protectionist trade policies regarding the tariffs imposed on
China, and the extreme amount of regulations put on businesses.
The
tariffs currently imposed on China have had a negative effect on the economy.
According to taxfoundation.org “the tariffs imposed so far by the Trump
administration would reduce long-run GDP by 0.23 percent ($58.02 billion) and
wages by 0.15 percent and eliminate 179,800 full-time equivalent jobs.” McCloskey
said “People usually think that the more complicated and developed your economy
is, then the more your government should regulate it with tariffs and licenses
and regulation and the rest. The more complicated an economy is, the less the
government can sensibly intervene.” (https://knowledge.ckgsb.edu). These
tariffs hurt ordinary people especially farmers and individuals with lower
incomes. Tariffs ultimately raise prices and slow economic growth. Does not
sound like economic freedom to me!
The
regulations being imposed on businesses can lead to a loss of economic
efficiency and slow growth. According to heritage.org, “Since early 2009, more
than 180 new major federal regulations have been imposed on business operations
at an estimated annual cost of nearly $80 billion. Each new edict has meant new
government bureaucracy that entrepreneurs and producers must navigate.” The
constant creation of new regulations has obviously hurt businesses and slowed
overall growth. The U.S. needs to work on getting closer to the number 1 spot
on the economic freedom world rankings, instead of their continuing decline.
Works Cited: https://www.heritage.org/index/pdf/2016/book/economicfreedominamerica.pdf
No comments:
Post a Comment