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Winter 2022

ISSN 0890-913X

Volume 37, Number 4

Categories: Winter 2022 | Economic freedom

Economic Freedom without Quality of Government

Ryan H. Murphy, Southern Methodist University

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TheJournalofPrivateEnterprise37(4),2022,21-42EconomicFreedomwithoutQualityofGovernmentRyanH.MurphySouthernMethodistUniversityUnitedStatesofAmericaAbstractStartingwiththeEconomicFreedomoftheWorldrankings,thispaperre-rankscountriesbyeconomicfreedomwithoutreferencetovariableswhosecontemporaryvariationisdrivenbythequalityofgovernment.Thatis,Iretainonlythevariablesthatvarytodaybecausegovernmentschoosenottodosomething(suchasregulateorspend).Someorallofthemeasuresconcerningpropertyrightsandthelegalsystem,soundmoney,andregulationwereremovedbecausehighscoresdependongovernments’activelydoingsomething.Removingthesevariablesresultsindrasticallydifferentrankingsofeconomicfreedom.Idonotarguethatmarketscouldnotprotectpropertyrightsorprovidesoundmoneyintheabsenceofintervention.However,solongasstatesareinvolvedinthesematters,qualitypublicinstitutionsareimportantdriversofeconomicfreedom.JELCodes:H11;P10Keywords:economicfreedom;qualityofgovernmentI.IntroductionEconomicfreedomisanegativefreedom,bydefinition.Itdoesnotpertaintoafreedomtohavesomethingprovidedtoyou,butonlythefreedomfrominterferencebyothers.Taxes,regulations,andburglaryallconstituteinfringementsoneconomicfreedom.Butwhenwegointotherealworld,thiscut-and-drieddistinctionismuddledbythegovernment’sclaimedresponsibilityforprovidingtwoimportantgoodsunderlyingmarketeconomies:theprotectionoflifeandproperty,andsoundmoney.Therefore,thevariationineconomicfreedomacrosstheworldiscaused,tosomeextent,bywhethergovernmentsfailtoperformthefunctionstheyhavetakenon.Inturn,thismeansthatthequalityofgovernmenthasacausalroleindeterminingthelevelofeconomicfreedom.11SeeRothstein(2011)foralengthydiscussionofthecasefortheimportanceofthequalityofgovernment.

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Metadata [hide]

Title	Economic Freedom without Quality of Government
Authors/Creators:	Ryan H. Murphy, Southern Methodist University
Year:	2022
Volume:	37
Number:	4
Pages:	21 - 42
Publisher:	The Association of Private Enterprise Education
ISSN:	0890-913X
Document Type:	Articles
Keywords:	economic freedom; quality of government

Citation:
Murphy, Ryan H. / 2022. "Economic Freedom without Quality of Government." The Journal of Private Enterprise, 37(4): 21-42.