Yeah, that title is a bit bizarre, but I have no other way to describe stuff like this (italics mine):
The Heritage Foundation’s latest world ranking of economic freedoms shows the U.S. falling farther than any other large economy in the world. The foundation says the TARP Program, the auto industry bailout and the stimulus package, among other factors, have caused the country’s economy to go from “free” to “mostly free.”
The U.S. now ranks eighth in the world on the group’s list.
Factors like business regulation, the labor market, monetary stability, property rights and corruption are used to determine the rankings.
Terry Miller, director of the Center of International Trade And Economics at the Heritage Foundation, says the U.S. ranking may continue to fall.
“Certainly looking at the government policies that have been followed over the last year, since our last data cut off, I’m very concerned,” Miller told TPM, adding that health care reform was likely to further hurt our economic freedom.
OK, first of all, I love how the Heritage Foundation has operationalized freedom. Awesome. But the kicker is who is more free than us. We’re #8 in the world. Want to guess who is #7?
Canada.
Yes, a country with a single payer system is more free than the US. More free. MORE. And the Affordable Care Act, which is not even close to anything like a single payer system is going to drop us even further down the rankings, according to the Heritage Foundation.
If we’re not careful, soon we’ll be even less free than the UK (#11) with their national health care system, which is totally socialized.
Like I said… irrational.
