In a recent New York Times opinion piece, Regina Ip, a member of Hong Kong’s Executive Council (essentially the cabinet of Hong Kong’s government), defended the Chinese Communist Party’s attack on freedom in Hong Kong. In an apparent attempt to bolster her argument, she noted Hong Kong’s top rating in the Economic Freedom of the…
Two troubling questions lurk behind the results of the Fraser Institute’s 2020 Economic Freedom of the World report, released Sept. 10. This year’s report is based on 2018 data (the most recent available). By 2018, global economic freedom had recovered from the 2008 financial crisis and was at its highest level ever, albeit by just…
The Communists have issued arrest warrants for six pro-democracy advocates living outside Hong Kong
In a little noted move, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) flexed its imperial muscle – criminalizing criticism of it anywhere on the planet – by issuing an arrest warrant for U.S. citizen Samuel Chu, a pro-democracy advocate for Hong Kong. In fact, by publishing this op-ed, this media outlet and I are breaking CCP laws…
As the system increases in generosity and accessibility in Atlantic Canada, it may perpetuate the nation’s problems with EI
By Alex Whalen and Fred McMahon The Fraser Institute The spike in unemployment across Canada due to the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered changes in the employment insurance (EI) program. And those changes could lead to significant problems. When unemployment grows in any of the country’s 62 EI regions, eligibility and benefits change along with it.…
The rule of law and its protection of property form the bedrock of economic freedom, but pressures from mainland China put those attributes in peril
By James Gwartney and Fred McMahon The Fraser Institute In the Fraser Institute’s latest Economic Freedom of the World ranking, Hong Kong again tops the list as the world’s freest economy. It has occupied this position almost without exception through the past half century – but will it remain there? The foundation for Hong Kong’s…
It employs its great military, economic and seductive power to advance repression around the world
As we watch the chaos on the streets of Venezuela, it’s apt to revisit the latest Human Freedom Index, published in part by the Fraser Institute. The index highlights an old danger re-emerging: authoritarian seducers, regimes that promote their model of despotism internationally through charm, money, power, bribery, threats and violence. Since the rise of…
Freedom and democracy are not stand-alone structures. For stability, they require institutional infrastructure, in particular, the rule of law and tolerance
For the first time in decades, basic human freedom is under attack globally. Journalists and opposition leaders are killed in Russia. China’s Communist Party stifles dissent on the mainland while threatening the rule of law in Hong Kong. Tens of thousands are arrested in Turkey on dubious grounds after a failed coup. Venezuela descends into…
Nationalistic politicians' attacks on free markets and economic freedom driven primarily by the support and desires of rural voters
As France and Turkey show, populism and deepening urban/rural splits represent dangerous and confusing threats to prosperity. The populist economic urge is cropping up around the world, however dissimilar the countries may seem to be. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan secured his recent constitutional power grab through rural votes, while losing in the big three…
The government is ushering in policy changes that endanger the engine that has produced growth, job creation and prosperity
By Fred McMahon and Ben Eisen The Fraser Institute Things are changing in Alberta – and not for the better. Each year, the Fraser Institute publishes the Economic Freedom of North America report. It compares economic freedom in Canada's provinces, and states of the United States and Mexico. Alberta regularly ranks as the freest jurisdiction on the continent. Unfortunately,…
Policy developments at the federal level as well as in Ontario and Alberta threaten Canada’s reputation as a bulwark of economic freedom
By Fred McMahon and Ben Eisen The Fraser Institute Canada ranks a remarkable fifth in the world in economic freedom, just behind Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand and Switzerland. The “land of the maple leaf” is far ahead of our southern neighbour, supposedly the “land of the free.” The United States ranks 16th out of…