Sorry, this is not a free country

By Randall Hoven

The United States is no longer "free." That is not just a rant. That is an objective assessment based on an analysis of 10 economic factors in 183 countries.

The Heritage Foundation's 2010 Index of Economic Freedom is out, and the US slipped out of the "free" category and into the "mostly free" category, a category shared with 22 other countries such as Macau, Cyprus, Georgia and Botswana. We are now behind seven other countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Switzerland and Canada. Yes, Canada.

Just behind us, in the top 10, are Denmark and Chile. The US scored 78.0 and Denmark scored 77.9. Denmark. We are virtually tied with Denmark. And not much further behind, ranking 12 and 13 respectively, are Mauritius (an island just east of sub-Saharan Africa) and Bahrain (another island, in the Persian Gulf east of the Arabian peninsula).

Just an observation, but being surrounded by ocean seems to help. Of the top 13 countries, six are islands or parts of islands: Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, UK, Mauritius and Bahrain. (Yes, Australia is a continent, but it is also just a big island.) Another six are effectively peninsulas or have major coastlines: Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada and the US, Denmark and Chile. Of the top 13, only Switzerland is landlocked, with lots of border countries.

By the way, it is close to impossible to immigrate into New Zealand or Switzerland, especially if you are over 55. I checked.