St. Joe-Benton Harbor News

One almost universal truth when it comes to the worldwide economy is that more economic freedom generally leads to greater prosperity.

This means that the area in which you live has a strong correlation with your success and the opportunity that you have to earn a lucrative income. To gain insight into how the countries of North America compare to one another, as well as how they rank on the world stage, the Fraser Institute has recently published a study called "Economic Freedom of North America," analyzed by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

The study is designed to measure the economic freedom of each country and includes metrics based on various areas of significance, such as taxes, spending and the labor market, in addition to income tax revenue, government spending and union-friendliness. 

Among the top-ten states across North America when it comes to economic freedom were nine states from the U.S. Also among the top ten was the Canadian province of Alberta. Mexico's top-performing state was Jalisco, but it did not rank higher than any of the Canadian provinces nor any of the U.S. states. 

On a country level, New Hampshire was rated as the most economically free state in the U.S. California was ranked the least free. The Midwest region of the U.S. mostly performed poorly, with the exception being Indiana, which came in at 8th place. Michigan was ranked 31st among the 50 states in terms of economic freedom, followed by Illinois at 34th and Minnesota at 40th.

For Mexico, Jalisco, Michoacan, and Baja California were rated as the best, with Tabasco, Campeche, and Zacatecas rounding out the bottom of the Mexican rankings. 

Economists see the rankings as incredibly important, mostly because they show a positive correlation between economic freedom and income per capita. There is clearly a wide gap between the U.S. and Mexico, explaining why many flee some of the worst-performing Mexican states to seek refuge and economic opportunity in the U.S. 

The report conducted by the Fraser Institute is sure to be cited when lawmakers propose legislation having to do with economic freedom and job creation.