[alienofwar]

Avro, your lib talk is not fooling me. First of all, your the one speaking in very general terms. You use China as an example yet you fail to realize that country is exploited for it's cheap labour for manufacturing goods to be exported to other countries...thats whats fueling that countries growth. So even if a country is under a communist system it means nothing when a person is willing to work for pennies a day. You cannot compare apples and oranges. I am talking in terms of economic freedom (less regulations and taxes) among developed nations...so lets keep the argument to where its relative not to use third world countries as examples.

Anyways, I have statistics to back me up which actually show the benefits of economic freedom. That's right, this so called "extremist" actually has data to support my argument

This report is a collection of data showing the direct relationship between economic well being and economic freedom.

Report

The data in this chapter of the report by the Frasier institue shows a ranking of economic freedom (including all levels of gov't) among U.S states and Canadian provinces. Suprise, suprise Saskatchewan, B.C and the left coast are ranked at the bottom of the list for economic freedom. California is close to the bottom and Nevada is almost at the top.

Econmic freedom ranked among State & Province

This is a ranking of GDP per capita among countries. The U.S is ranked 3 in 2005.

GDP Ranking

And this is a ranking of economic freedom among countries. The U.S comes in at 7th in 2003.

Economic freedom ranked among Countries

So there you go, I back up my so called "simplistic view" with facts and data. Can you prove me otherwise?

[alienofwar]

Avro your chart was meaningless to the whole picture. We are not just talking taxes, we are also talking about regulations and what slows down an economy. And yes the Fraser institute is a right-wing group...but their sources they use are credible if you would look at the report. Also what they report as economic freedom being linked to economic properity is common knowledge....everybody is aware of this! I agree, Norway and Luxenburgh are different stories...their geography may play a role in this...but still, I dont see how their prosperity is proof that economic freedom does not play a role in economic prosperity. Those are two example compared to the many other examples which prove support my argument. Also, look at the North American report...it shows B.C, Saskatchewan and the east coast with the worst economic rating!! This is proof that their high spending and regulations are not helping their situation at all!

Also, look at the latest news from Europe...France and Germany are both struggling with high unemployment rates. It has become so bad in Germany that their is already talk to make widespread changes to spur growth, which includes cutting taxes, social programs and regulations. Their unemployment rate is at almost %13.