Study Cites "Freest States" & Economic Benefits Therein

A study that has just come out from the George Mason University's Mercatus Center, titled "Freedom in the 50 States" has some interesting findings based upon criteria which are laid out below. In summation, conservative states are the most "free" while liberal states are the least. One guess as to the state that has the absolute worst rating for freedom...yes, that's right! New York!Ranking criteria from the Mercatus Center:

The overall freedom ranking is determined by combining scores for fiscal, regulatory, and personal freedom.

Fiscal Policy (35.3%)The fiscal policy dimension consists of the following categories: Tax Burden (28.6%), Government Employment (2.8%), Government Spending (1.9%), Government Debt (1.2%), and Fiscal Decentralization (0.9%).

Regulatory Policy (32.0%)The regulatory policy dimension consists of the following categories: Freedom from Tort Abuse (11.5%), Property Right Protection (7.6%), Health Insurance Freedom (5.4%), Labor Market Freedom (3.8%), Occupational Licensing Freedom (1.7%), Miscellaneous Regulatory Freedom (1.3%), and Cable and Telecom Freedom (0.8%).

Personal Freedom (32.7%)Personal freedom dimension consists of the following categories: Victimless Crime Freedom (9.8%), Gun Control Freedom (6.6%), Tobacco Freedom (4.1%), Alcohol Freedom (2.8%), Marriage Freedom (2.1%), Marijuana and Salvia Freedom (2.1%), Gambling Freedom (2.0%), Education Policy (1.9%), Civil Liberties (0.6%), Travel Freedom (0.5%), Asset Forfeiture Freedom (0.1%), and Campaign Finance Freedom (0.02%).

You can see a handy state-by-state ranking here, but it's no surprise my current home-state of California is also one of the least free states in the country (#49 right behind NY), despite CA's more enlightened view on marijuana use. Hawaii also ranks in the top-5 least free states - not a shocker, when one looks at Obama's stance on freedom, as he hails from the land of leis.

According to the study (and of no surprise to libertarians), freedom comes with economic benefits. From IBD:

The study also found that states with more freedom tended to see stronger income growth. This was particularly true in states with more regulatory freedom."Adam Smith was right," Ruger said. "If you have economic freedom you will have economic growth."IBD has previously reported that red states saw stronger job growth, lower unemployment and bigger gains in per capita income than blue states, during the economic recovery.

Stats have shown that more Americans are immigrating from less free, economically harsh "blue" states to their more conservative cousins, which brings additional revenues and talent into those states. Once there, because of the economic freedom and business-friendly environment, those citizens are thriving.

So there you have it - data sets proving that freedom is both a key to personal and economic happiness. What a wonderful Thursday.

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