Ranking economic freedom

Reports the Daily Telegraph:

Britain has slipped out of the ranks of fully "free" countries in this year's Heritage Index of Economic Freedom, reflecting the sharp rise in the tax burden and ballooning state sector.

The country has continued to slide down the league under Gordon Brown's economic management, falling from fifth to tenth place over the last two years. It has been overtaken by Canada, Chile, Switzerland, Australia, and the United States.

The UK is now ranked as "mostly free" -- a status it shares with Germany, Japan, Bahrain, Armenia and Trinidad. The country still ranks in the top ten -- by the skin of its teeth -- but its economic climate is clearly moving in the wrong direction.

The Index of Economic Freedom defines economic freedom as:

The highest form of economic freedom provides an absolute right of property ownership, fully realized freedoms of movement for labor, capital, and goods, and an absolute absence of coercion or constraint of economic liberty beyond the extent necessary for citizens to protect and maintain liberty itself. In other words, individuals are free to work, produce, consume, and invest in any way they please, and that freedom is both protected by the state and unconstrained by the state.

That freedom is assessed according to the following criteria:

• Business Freedom
  
• Trade Freedom
  
• Fiscal Freedom
  
• Government Size
  
• Monetary Freedom
  
• Investment Freedom
  
• Financial Freedom
  
• Property Rights
  
• Freedom from Corruption
  
• Labor Freedom
  

The top ten ranked nations are:

1. Hong Kong
   
2. Singapore
   
3. Ireland
   
4. Australia
   
5. United States
   
6. New Zealand
   
7. Canada
   
8. Chile
   
9. Switzerland
   
10. United Kingdom
    

North Korea comes in dead last.

Note that the United States has also dropped a hair in the ratings, "reflecting minor declines in four of the 10 economic freedoms," specifically, fiscal freedom, government size, monetary freedom and freedom from corruption.

Is anybody holding out any high hopes for the direction taken by the U.S. in future ratings?