Friday, February 6, 2009

Facts About Freedom and Prosperity

Randall Hoven has written a fact-filled article at American Thinker comparing levels of government spending/economic control vs prosperity and freedom in various countries over the past century. It doesn't quite prove as much as he wants — that government is best which governs least — though it's a good start.

The flaws? He has nothing but an assumed moral foundation, for example, instead taking the pragmatic route that a good government is government that "works." He also doesn't support the implicit assumption that government spending as a percentage of GDP is a good proxy for the level of a nation's freedom or degree of government control of the economy.

That said, one can't prove everything in a single article and it's a valuable, simple-to-follow resource when confronted by Keynesians, Progressives, and other wannabe dictators.

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