Is the World Getting Freer?
Fergus Hodgson, May 21, 2018 
Every year, the Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom of the World index ranks countries’ openness to markets. But how can one measure something so seemingly abstract as freedom or liberalization?
We discuss this and other topics with the man behind the study for the past 30 years, Robert Lawson of the O’Neil Center for Global Markets and Freedom at Southern Methodist University.
He argues that the scientific method can work in the social sciences as well, and that the ideology of a country’s ruling party is not the best indicator of its economic freedom.
Recommended Links
- Follow Robert on LinkedIn and Facebook. You can also visit his personal website.
- The latest edition of the Economic Freedom of the World index.
- Economic Freedom of the World, 2009 lecture by Robert.
Robert Lawson has been attempting to measure economic freedom for the past three decades. (Fergus Hodgson)
Fergus Hodgson is Gold Newsletter’s roving editor. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.