Not real sure what you're talking about there Steve and I have no idea why you think I would be in favor of any of this. This country hasn't voted down a free trade agreement in my lifetime and our standard of living has risen dramatically. There is a direct correlation between the amount of economic freedom a country practices and their per capita GDP, political liberty and standard of living.
The Heritage Foundation offers an annual report proving that the countries with the most economic freedom also have higher rates of long-term economic growth and are more prosperous than are those with less economic freedom.
2005 Index of Economic Freedom
more enlightened economic policies should make all of that evil government overhead unnecessary too
Yes, reducing government control at every opportunity is a good thing. Creating barriers to trade is just another form of government control. Speaking of enlightened economic policies...I tend to like Milton Friedman. He said: Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.
I think you may have missed the point, which was conflating economic indicators with other indicators, dismissively referred to elsewhere as ethereal or ephemeral in nature.
From the link you supplied:
Notable is the fact that the United States has tumbled from the top 10 economies, falling two spots from its 2004 ranking into a tie for 12th with Switzerland. This drop reflects the policy improvements made by the world's freest countries. Although remaining a "free" economy, the U.S. has been treading water while other nations are improving their scores and surpassing it in the rankings.
I suppose free-traders might argue that America is not moving fast enough to reduce trade barriers that seem to have served it well for the first 200 years of its existence. Probably at least some fair traders would argue that the drop in the index wrt to the US is an indicator of downwards harmonization. That's a tie. I would argue that economic freedom is a term that leads to conflation of concepts in logical argument-- freedom and economics, or certain free trade economics, to be more exact.
Yes, reducing government control at every opportunity is a good thing. Creating barriers to trade is just another form of government control.
OK, we part company where economics is elevated over all other forms of human activity in importance and reflected in government affairs. I guess an economist would even argue that the ink used to pen "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" was simply a waste, or perhaps should have been re-phrased or at least interpreted as "economic freedom." I am not sure this was the case, and I am not sure that others would agree either.
Speaking of enlightened economic policies...I tend to like Milton Friedman. He said: Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.
The quote leads me to conclude that Mr. Friedman -- he's an economist, isn't he? -- is very self-confident in both his own convictions and his defense of his profession. I'm sorry, but forgive me that I don't sense the logic of the words he uses, nor his reasoning from the quote alone. Friedman's quote just sounds to me like a prime example of conflated rhetoric, and perhaps even a somewhat dismal one at that (smile).
My personal experience is traveling to Mexico immediately after NAFTA-- remember the rosy promises made in both countries? Mexico devalued its currency soon afterwards, and a lot of hurting people there became even more hard-pressed. Hertz tried to stiff me for the effects then-recent devaluation by insisting I pay for my reservation in a revised cost that reflected the new exchange rate in dollars, not pesos, at the counter. I found it both humorous and sad. So much for economic freedom. PS, free trade or not, economic freedom or not, I won that argument with Hertz. I have little tolerance for economic flimflam-- zero tolerance when it comes to free trade flimflam versus natural rights and environmental protection.
We all pay for what we get and we all eventually reap what we sow-- one way or another. Flimflam free trade arguments will lead to harmonization, and downwards harmonization will lead to a harmonized standard of living. When the US harmonizes with third world countries with free trade, it will get third world standards of living. It's simple economics.