Monday, May 18, 2009

Study Names "Most Free" States; California Ranks Poorly

A recent George Mason University study ranked the 50 U.S. states on a freedom scale, attempting to turn the various economic, social, and personal freedoms available in each state into a number, allowing comparison and ranking.

According to the researchers, the "freest" states are New Hampshire, Colorado, and South Dakota: "All three states feature low taxes and government spending and middling levels of regulation and paternalism."

On the other end of their spectrum, "New York is the least free by a considerable margin, followed by New Jersey, Rhode Island, California and Maryland."

A color-coded freedm-ranked map of the states is available here.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Considering New York is the home of the now-disgraced Wall Street, one might judge the state's business climate a mite too free.