Page 126 - 662

Ukraine lags on economic freedom

“Countries with
the highest levels of
economic freedom
also have the
highest living
standards.”

An annual report on economic freedom showed that while
North America and Europe continued to reign as the world’s most
economically free societies, most of Eastern Europe continued to
lag behind.
The Wall Street Journal and The Heritage Foundation
released the 2004 Economic Freedom Index in Hong Kong on Jan.
8. Hong Kong topped the list, followed by Singarope, New
Zealand, Luxemburg and Ireland.
More than a decade after the collapse of the USSR, former
Soviet states continued to show poor progress. The study
considered Russia and Ukraine “mostly unfree” and ranked them
th
th
114 and 116 , respectively.
Eastern Europe’s stars were Estonia, which was ranked sixth
and considered free, and Lithuania, which at 22 was in the “mostly
free” category. Ranked between 32 and 56 and considered mostly
free were the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Hungary,
America, Slovenia and Poland.
The Slovak Republic was singled out for having
implemented positive reforms. It improved its score in the rating
by reducing taxes, removing price controls, speeding the
privatization of state assets and restructuring its banking industry.
“A country’s level of economic freedom is critical,” said
Mark Miles, one of the study’s editors. “Countries with the highest
levels of economic freedom also have the highest living
standards.”

129