You would think Panama would rank higher in economic freedom but no, it is surpassed in central America by both Costa Rica at #54 and El Salvador at #32. What holds it back? The usual culprits of rule of law and corruption along with a number of other issues brought about because of it. We can only hope that Martinelli's recent activities to curb corruption will result in higher marks next year.
Source: The Heritage Foundation
Excerpt from :Central American Data
Friday, January 22, 2010
In Central America, El Salvador leads (32 in the world), followed by
Costa Rica (54), Panama (60), Guatemala (83), Nicaragua (98) and
Honduras (99). El
Salvador and Guatemala climbed positions in the index when compared to
2009, while Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama and Honduras fell lower.
In Latin America, Chile was the surprise, as it made it to the top 10 of the world.
According to the Heritage Foundation, who develops the index in
association with The Wall Street Journal, "economic freedom is the
fundamental right of every human to control his or her own labor and
property. In an economically free society, individuals are free to
work, produce, consume, and invest in any way they please, with that
freedom both protected by the state and unconstrained by the state. In
economically free societies, governments allow labor, capital and goods
to move freely, and refrain from coercion or constraint of liberty
beyond the extent necessary to protect and maintain liberty itself".
Recent Comments