Global Trade Freedom Has Declined for the Fourth Straight Year heritage.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from heritage.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
2017 Index of Economic Freedom: Trade and Prosperity at Risk heritage.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from heritage.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The United States was the first great free trade zone of the modern age, a fact that accounts for the economic efficiency and prosperity that has made it the largest economy in the world. The freedom to trade without hindrance across a continent-spanning market, which has underpinned America’s rapid development, has in modern times been emulated by groups of nations such as the European Union and promoted worldwide through multilateral organizations like the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Abstract: The Heritage Foundation began ranking trade freedom around the world in 1995. The newest rankings (to appear in the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom) show global trade freedom as high as it has ever been. That is encouraging: Countries with higher levels of trade freedom have higher levels of economic prosperity. Still, the latest average score showed only a slight improvement, and far too many people continue to live in poverty because their political leaders have blocked attempts at opening paths to freer trade.