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Economic Freedom is the freedom for you as an individual to follow your own path. It has nothing to do with individuals vs corporations. Regulations do not ma

by brc 13y ago

Economic Freedom is the freedom for you as an individual to follow your own path. It has nothing to do with individuals vs corporations. Regulations do not make you free. How free are you to start up a company in any given field? To earn income doing a task of your choosing? To spend your income on items of your own choosing? That is the essence of economic freedom. In the details it shows that the USA is still very high in certain areas - like personal freedom in labor mobility - but is getting marked down for continued and excessive debt. I think the list is somewhat imperfect (Hong Kong is no longer a country, despite it's commendable history of low taxation and personal freedoms, now lost to being a chinese micro-state). The discussions around healthcare seem to muddy the waters - although it is a hot topic I don't think it really counts for much as most of the countries above the USA have much more regulated or state owned health care.

Jare 13y ago
> Regulations do not make you free Regulations prevent more powerful others from removing my own freedom as they want.
- brc 13y ago
  See my other reply, but the only 'more powerful other' that has the ability to remove your economic freedom is a government. A large corporation cannot remove your ability to change jobs, spend your income how you like or start up a new business unless they do it through the government. Microsoft or Apple can't prevent me from starting up a new company or buying some other product unless they get the government to regulate my other choices out of existence - which means they can only harm me by decreasing my economic freedom. The exact opposite to what people seem to be trying to say here.
twobits 13y ago
"Economic Freedom is the freedom for you as an individual to follow your own path. It has nothing to do with individuals vs corporations." On the right, we have the toddler. He is 2 years old. On the left, we have the heavy weights world champion. Ladies and gentlemen, please make your bets. The fight is about to begin!
- brc 13y ago
  Well, no. I'll restate again: Economic Freedom gives you, the individual, the freedom to pursue your own economic choices. That is the type of job you'd like to do, the type of business you'd like to start, how you'd like to spend your income. It has zero to do with David vs Goliath, Corporation vs Individuals. Case in point. Would you like to start a community bank, to better serve yourself and your local community? Have you got the freedom from regulations to do so? Regulations, as we all know, are often written by lobbyists and passed by politicians. Frequently these regulations are designed to entrench power and escape from competition. Let's look at a common discussion point on this site - Uber. High economic freedom means you're free to start your own Uber-like service. You're free to create a car service, and free as a consumer to purchase a ride from them. Low economic freedom means there are barriers from either starting the company or buying it's products. From such freedoms springs economic growth. Entrepreneurs require economic freedom so that they can find new paths, so that they can pivot around looking for the right business model. That is why it has nothing to do with 'big vs small' or anything like that. Regulations do not make you free.

by brc 13y ago

Jare 13y ago

> Regulations do not make you free Regulations prevent more powerful others from removing my own freedom as they want.

brc 13y ago
See my other reply, but the only 'more powerful other' that has the ability to remove your economic freedom is a government. A large corporation cannot remove your ability to change jobs, spend your income how you like or start up a new business unless they do it through the government. Microsoft or Apple can't prevent me from starting up a new company or buying some other product unless they get the government to regulate my other choices out of existence - which means they can only harm me by decreasing my economic freedom. The exact opposite to what people seem to be trying to say here.

twobits 13y ago

"Economic Freedom is the freedom for you as an individual to follow your own path. It has nothing to do with individuals vs corporations." On the right, we have the toddler. He is 2 years old. On the left, we have the heavy weights world champion. Ladies and gentlemen, please make your bets. The fight is about to begin!

brc 13y ago
Well, no. I'll restate again: Economic Freedom gives you, the individual, the freedom to pursue your own economic choices. That is the type of job you'd like to do, the type of business you'd like to start, how you'd like to spend your income. It has zero to do with David vs Goliath, Corporation vs Individuals. Case in point. Would you like to start a community bank, to better serve yourself and your local community? Have you got the freedom from regulations to do so? Regulations, as we all know, are often written by lobbyists and passed by politicians. Frequently these regulations are designed to entrench power and escape from competition. Let's look at a common discussion point on this site - Uber. High economic freedom means you're free to start your own Uber-like service. You're free to create a car service, and free as a consumer to purchase a ride from them. Low economic freedom means there are barriers from either starting the company or buying it's products. From such freedoms springs economic growth. Entrepreneurs require economic freedom so that they can find new paths, so that they can pivot around looking for the right business model. That is why it has nothing to do with 'big vs small' or anything like that. Regulations do not make you free.