Government and the Index of Economic Freedom

The Index of Economic Freedom is composite of ten economic measurements created by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal. Its stated objective is to measure the degree of economic freedom in the world's nations. [reference 1)] Essentially these boil down to a composite measure of: a) good government; and b) less government.

The Baseline Scenario blog posted an article from StatsGuy [reference 2)], arguing contrary to its usual interpretation the Index of Economic Freedom does not support the position that less government is a good thing. Instead, StatsGuy outlines statistically how the Index makes the case for clean, non-corrupt, efficient government. I am not certain I agree with the logic espoused, but the conclusion seems reasonable. Unfortunately, it is naïve to think any large bureaucracy, especially a government, can avoid being anything but dirty, corrupt, and inefficient. The Deepwater Horizon Incident, okay, instead of labeling it what the federal government insists on, I will call it what it really is - a Disaster, is evidence of the ineptitude of large organizations, private and especially governmental, even when well-intentioned. Ronald Reagan over simplified when he said "Government is not a solution to our problem, government is the problem." [reference 3)] Nonetheless, he was far closer to what I see as reality than those who see government as a solution.

References:

1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_of_Economic_Freedom

2) http://baselinescenario.com/2010/05/27/heritage-index-good-government-vs-less-government/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+BaselineScenario+(The+Baseline+Scenario)

3) First Inaugural Address, 20 January 1981