N.H. ranked most economically free state
If New Hampshire were a sports team, it would have haters. Lots and lots of haters.
That’s what happens when you win so much. Yeah, we’re basically the New England Patriots of states.
This week the Granite State acquired another accolade: most economically free state in the union.
We know what you’re wondering. Not Vermont? Really?
Seriously. Somehow, Vermont ranked 47th.
To put that in scientific terms… LOL, Vermont.
We know you’ll be as shocked as Captain Renault to learn that New Hampshire was the only New England state in the top ten. It’s almost as if low taxes and limited government generate freedom and prosperity, or something.
Connecticut ranked 13th, Massachusetts 17th, Maine 36th, Rhode Island 38th, and Vermont 47th.
(Again, LOL, Vermont.)
The ranking comes from the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think tank. Fraser has published this ranking for years, and this year we displaced Florida to retake the top spot.
The Economic Freedom of North America report measures government spending, taxation and labor market restrictions using data from 2017, the most recent year of available comparable data.
New Hampshire scored a 7.93 out of 10 in this year’s report, well above its New England neighbors and far above lowest-ranked New York (4.49), which placed last for the fifth year in a row.
“When governments allow markets to decide what’s produced, how it’s produced and how much is produced, citizens enjoy greater levels of economic freedom,” said Fred McMahon, report co-author and the Dr. Michael A. Walker Research Chair in Economic Freedom at the Fraser Institute.
Rounding out the top five freest states are Florida (2nd), Tennessee (3rd), Virginia (4th) and Texas (5th). Rounding out the bottom five are West Virginia (49th), Alaska (48th), Vermont (47th) and Oregon (46th).
(LOL, Vermont.)
You can read more about the report here.
We don’t know about you, but we haven’t gotten tired of winning yet. We’ll take more, please.