Australia’s economy ranked among the freest 24 January 2012 Australia has retained its position as one of the world’s freest economies, once again placing third on the 2012 Index of Economic Freedom, published by The Wall Street Journal and The Heritage Foundation. The annual scorecard evaluates 179 countries according to four measures of economic freedom: rule of law, regulatory efficiency, limited government, and open markets. This year, Australia’s aggregate score of 83.1 places it within the classification of free, and well above the global average (59.5). In 2012, Australia’s greater trade and fiscal freedom, and reduced government spending resulted in a 0.6 point increase on the country’s 2011 economic freedom score. As well as applauding Australia’s government spending regime, the index attributes Australia’s free economy to its excellent protection of property rights and its independent judiciary committed to strong anti-corruption measures. “Australia’s modern and competitive economy benefits from the country’s strong commitment to open-market policies that facilitate global trade and investment. “Transparent and efficient regulations are applied evenly in most cases, encouraging dynamic entrepreneurial activity in the private sector.” More information |