IRELAND is the freest economy in the euro zone but it has slipped from seventh to ninth in the most recent world ranking by right-wing think tank the Heritage Foundation. According to Eldridge Financial Blog, Ireland’s economic freedom score was 76.9, down 1.8 points from last year, when it was the seventh freest economy in the world. Ireland was then the second-freest economy in Europe after Switzerland. n addition, the foundation points out that this was reflected the poorer management of government spending and reduced monetary freedom. Furthermore, Ireland was just ahead of the US in the index. The least free was North Korea, in 179th place.
The world’s freest economy, for the 18th year in a row, was Hong Kong. It scored 89.9 out of 100 on the foundation’s index, which looks at countries under four different categories; rule of law, how efficient its regulations are, how small its government is and how open the markets are.
After suffering a deep downturn, it has been on a path of gradual recovery. The Irish economy has undergone sharp economic adjustments. The index warned on how Ireland’s “ballooning cost of settlements has extended the uncertainty in the financial sector and turned a banking crisis into a sovereign debt crisis. The budget deficiency has been on the rise, increasing the debt impediment. Unlike other troubled euro zone economies as noted on Eldridge Financial Blog, however, Ireland has a number of tightly intact institutional strengths. “The foundations of economic freedom are buttressed by well-institutionalized protection of property rights and a stable judiciary. Regulatory efficiency and openness to global commerce support Ireland’s competitiveness.”
Ireland trailed Chile in seventh place and Mauritius in eighth. Singapore was second for the 18th year, followed by Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland. China ranked 138, down from 135.
