Synonyms
Definition
Economic freedom is the ability of individuals to make their own economic decisions without interference or limitations by government or government’s protection of anti-market behavior in favor of powerful groups and these group’s abuse of this power to limit market choices of other.
Description
For at least a quarter of a millennium, thinkers have noted the power of economic freedom. When in 1776, Adam Smith famously wrote, “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest,” he was talking about economic freedom. Neither benevolence nor coercion brought Smith his supper. Instead, it was freely agreed upon economic exchange.
Yet, until a quarter century ago, economic freedom was an intuitive concept, unmeasured, and with no rigorous definition. Michael A. Walker, then executive director of Canada’s Fraser Institute, noted this significant gap in...
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References
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McMahon, F. (2014). Economic Freedom (Fraser Institute and Heritage Foundation). In: Michalos, A.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_819
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