Freedom in the 50 States:An Index of Personal and Economic Freedom

Book Description:

Now in its third edition, Freedom in the 50 States presents a completely revised and updated ranking of the American states based on how their policies promote freedom in the fiscal, regulatory, and personal realms. This edition employs an enhanced methodology that makes it an even more comprehensive index. Improving on their previous attempts to measure freedom, authors William P. Ruger and Jason Sorens use far more variables in this edition, including many new variables related to economic freedom. In fact, more than 200 policy 

 

CONTENTS

Introduction 1

Part 1: Dimensions of Freedom 10

Fiscal Policy 13

Overall Fiscal Policy Ranking 24

Regulatory Policy 27

Overall Regulatory Policy Ranking 42

Overall Economic Freedom Ranking 44

Personal Freedom 47

Overall Personal Freedom Ranking 74

Part 2: Politics of Freedom 76

Overall Freedom Ranking 79

Change over Time 82

Public Opinion and Freedom 86

Freedom, Growth, and Migration 91

Map of State Freedom Scores 92

Conclusions 99

Part 3: Freedom State by State 102

Acknowledgments 211

Appendix A: Coding Procedures 212

Appendix B: Dimension, Category, and Variable Weights 216

Further Reading 220

About the Authors 223

About the Mercatus Center at George Mason University 224