Normally I hesitate to inflict scholarly papers on others, but a recent release by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University appealed to my libertarian sensibilities. "Freedom in the 50 States" analyzes and ranks the states by factors indicative of economic and personal freedom, and the results are enlightening. Measured by the conventional, two-dimensional view of American politics, the top ten (most free) are a mix of dark Red States and light Red States with one light Blue State. The bottom ten are all dark Blues. Also note that the bottom ten include a high proportion of the states which...