Wednesday, September 21, 2011

We're number 10?

Posted by dkuehn at 8:18 AM
What do people think of these think tank rankings? Apparently Cato thinks we're 10th in the world in freedom.

Looking at the color-coded map they have on the cover, obviously there's nothing truly strange about their rankings. The "right" countries seem to be in the highest, middle, and lower quartile. But moves from 6th (our ranking last year) to 10th (our ranking this year) seem to me to say a lot more about the Cato Institute than they say about freedom in the United States. Think tanks take to the bully pulpit in echo-chambers all the time in Washington, but this is a 234 page document that's produced every year. That's quite an investment for a ranking that nobody but people who already agree with Cato are going to buy into all that much.

7 comments:

  1. CahalSeptember 21, 2011 at 11:10 AM

    It's amusing how highly they rank HK, considering the government effectively owns all of the land and subsidises housing heavily, as well as providing free health care and education.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gary GunnelsSeptember 21, 2011 at 11:37 AM

    While I haven't gone to the link, given the massive expansion of the national security state ($1 trillion in spending - without considering the wars - in the last decade alone) the drop seems appropriate to me. Now I'll go look at the link.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Gary GunnelsSeptember 21, 2011 at 11:43 AM

    First, it is a ranking regarding "economic freedom." Says so in the title in fact.

    Cahal,

    While all those may be true, it also may be true that it is say easier to start a business in HK (I know this to actually be the case), HK may have far fewer or no requirements regarding credentials for a variety of professions, etc. You're talking about a broad array of government activity here, so there isn't anything especially amusing on the face of it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Gary GunnelsSeptember 21, 2011 at 11:52 AM

    Daniel,

    "But moves from 6th (our ranking last year) to 10th (our ranking this year) seem to me to say a lot more about the Cato Institute than they say about freedom in the United States."

    Yes, I am also sure that the fourth chapter on economic freedom and how it effects women also says a lot about what the Cato institute values.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Daniel KuehnSeptember 21, 2011 at 12:18 PM

    re: "Yes, I am also sure that the fourth chapter on economic freedom and how it effects women also says a lot about what the Cato institute values."

    Right. I'm sure every chapter says a lot about what the Cato Institute values, in fact.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Gary GunnelsSeptember 21, 2011 at 12:22 PM

    Daniel,

    To flip it around, zeroing in on the movement of the U.S. from 6th to 10th also says something.

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousSeptember 21, 2011 at 10:54 PM

    I would guess it's to try to make Obama look bad.

    ReplyDelete

All anonymous comments will be deleted. Consistent pseudonyms are fine.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)