CEDICE presents the Index of Economic Freedom in the World 2024

“It is essential to replace the populism of short-term solutions with the existence of clear rules of the game and solid economic and political institutions.” This is a recommendation given by the Fraser Institute of Canada and that should be applied to all of Latin America, judging by the results of the Economic Freedom World Index 2024 (EFW), presented by the Canadian institution in alliance with the Center for the Dissemination of Economic Knowledge, AC (Cedice Libertad).

Each year, this study evaluates 165 countries in the world based on 5 components associated with economic freedom: sound currency, size of government, legal system and property rights, freedom of international trade, and credit, labor, and business regulations.

“After decades of slow but steady increases, global economic freedom peaked in 2019, but has declined in each of the three years since then, which has not happened since we started measuring economic freedom more ago. 25 years,” said Matthew Mitchell, senior researcher at the Fraser Institute and contributor to the report.

On this occasion, Venezuela obtained a score of 3.02/10, with freedom of international trade being the variable in which it was best evaluated (5.03/10) and the healthy currency the aspect that presents the most challenges for economic freedom (0.74/10). . Occupying position 165 in the index, the last in the ranking.

On a regional scale, the highest score was obtained this year by Panama (7.62/10), while the most economically free territory in the world is Hong Kong, followed by Singapore and Switzerland.

The raw data used for the study, as well as an application in which the results of EFW 2024 can be known and compared, can be consulted and downloaded for free on the website: www.freetheworld.org.

Pensions and the freedom to choose

In addition to the Argentine case, analyzed by EFW 2024 due to its novelty and notoriety, the study puts the spotlight on an issue that is more associated with economic freedom than one might think: pension systems.

In a world like today’s, in which demographic growth diminishes pension systems based on mandatory contributions from the active population, their days seem to be numbered economically. For this reason, the EFW presents the options and reiterates the importance of a vision of pensions from economic freedom.

“If the goal is to maximize the economic freedom of individuals, there should not be any type of mandatory retirement system. Individuals should have the freedom to decide how much to work, how much to save, and what to do with their savings,” the study authors maintain.