Freedom in the 50 States 2011

As the federal government and states struggle with the best ways to boost prosperity, a new study from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University "Freedom in the 50 States: An Index of Personal and Economic Freedom," takes a comprehensive look at states' public policies that affect individual freedom in economic, social and personal areas. The study is a follow up to the first in 2009.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Freedom
• States
• 50 States
• Mercatus Center
• Mercatus
• mercatus.org
• George Mason
• GMU
• Econ
• Economics
• New Hampshire
• South Dakota
• Idaho
• Texas
• California
• New Jersey
• New York

[chivenyc]

I'm from Westchester, NY.

"The people should be free to do as they see fit as long as they're not directly harming others". That's exactly what I believe in, which is why I'm going to vote for Ron Paul.

[j0eg0d]

Lowest freedom in the States that commonly vote Democrat ... No surprise there. You demand politicians to create laws for marriage, pregnancy or even what words you can & can not say ... you get a prison.

[vakeraj]

@wangsta25 "The people should be free to do as they see fit as long as they're not directly harming others." Yeah, that's some evil Koch brothers bullshit right there.

[flilguy]

I have lived in the higher rated state of Virginia, and the lower rated state of Illinois. The states are similar in that the closer you live near the population center, (in Illinois, Chicago, and Virginia's center being Washington. D.C.,) the taxes and regulations are more concentrated. It's not just what state one lives in, it's also each city and county, and region of the state.

[wangsta25]

The Mercatus Center is a Libertarian think tank that's founded by the Koch brothers and ExxonMobil enough said. Their spoon feeding u bullshit propaganda and ur buying into it because it has the word "freedom" written all over it. This subjective trash is just as deceiving as anything produced by conservative or liberal think tanks.

[baihbalm]

@GlobalEquities Alaska’s big problem is fiscal policy. Over a quarter of the state’s workforce is employed by state or local government, and that figure does not include federal employees. Alaska has the highest debt and government spending to personal income ratios in the country. However, Alaska does extremely well on personal freedom, scoring fifth on the ranking. It is funny nonetheless.

[GlobalEquities]

@GlobalEquities

politics as usual

[GlobalEquities]

Alaska at 44 is ridiculous, this study is funny at this point.

[AceOfHeart2012]

Anything that infringes on my free will to determine what I do, so long as I do not physically harm another is a nuisance. All of the motor vehicle codes, executive orders, statutes, treaties, acts, constitutions etc... have no force or effect upon me because I have not contracted to be subject to them. And NO, the Social Security # and/or driver license do not bind me either because they are impossible, adhesion contracts gotten through coercion without full disclosure. They are void.

[KillBaddBugz]

Excellent. Liked and saved. Great work here-

From Ohio, state of the unfree and exorbitant licensure fees.

[tgvas]

@chivenyc AMEN