I recently read an article at the following URL: http://www.freetheworld.com/press070803.html
I was very curious as to how much correlation there was between economic freedom, GDP and human development. In this article it reads: "The more economically free a country, the greater the level of human development enjoyed by its citizens." It also quotes Laureate Milton Friedman who said, "Freeing people economically unleashes individual drive and initiative and puts a nation on the road to economic growth."
It does seem only natural to me, that allowing people to pursure their dreams through creative thinking and entrepreneurship could only increase economic growth. So, the question is, why don't all countries pursure this idea? Would their desire for control and power override a countries well-being? or is it just ignorance?
Also, as I thought about this article, I wondered if you could look in history and correlate any improvements in the economy with the invention of economists, because these people, especially at first, would seem to be very influential. Just a thought.
4 comments:
In regards to your comment about economists throughout history, there are a lot of them, and they did have a profound impact on the world. One person in particular, Adam Smith, is considered by many to be the most influencial person in bringing about what we now know as “modern economics.” His work took place in the late 1700s, a time when a huge economic increase was just around the corner. Who knows how much his ideas contributed to the growth that began in the early 1800s?
I would imagine that there are many more very influential economists from every culture. And yes, I do think that they are, and will continue to be, very important and influential people throughout history.
"I was very curious as to how much correlation there was between economic freedom, GDP and human development."
The truth is that there is a very very poor correlation between "economic freedom" and GDP. See Lindert's paper :" Why the Welfare State looks like a Free Lunch ?" ( http://www.international.ucla.edu/ccgr/article.asp?parentid=3584 )
Besides, there isn't a very strong correlation between GDP and human development. See the US' human development index.
Spelling problems in Rolf Tiblin's and Kavindavis' comments.
Fundamentally, I don't think this discussion is about freedom. The problem isn't freedom. There are a lot of free places that aren't rich. Rather, the issue is bureaucratic overreach. I may be cynical, but most people don't get involved in government out of the goodness of their own hearts - they get involved because they think they can make better decisions about other people than those people can themselves. And sometimes they can - many parents do this every day. To me, the real question is what are the limits on bureaucrats doing that, and how are bureaucrats punished for bad decisions?
One last thought - Marx was arguably an economist, and he probably did more damage to human society than anyone in history.
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