Freedom Index is Good!

I wrote earlier about the Heritage Foundations "Freedom Index" but i thought i´d´take another look at it since it seem to be the central of all things neoliberal.

There was particularly two "Freedoms" that caught my attention;
"Freedom from Government" and "Labor Freedom".

Here is the "Freedom from Government" Top 8;

1. Guatemala
2. Haiti
3. El Salvador
4. Guinea
5. Costa Rica
6. Peru
7. Hong Kong
8. Armenia

And the "Labor Freedom" Top 8;

1. Georgia
2. Singapore
3. Uganda
4. Hong Kong
5. Australia
6. Saudi Arabia
7. United States
8. Thailand

All extremely "free" countries indeed!

When I clicked through these links I couldnt help to notice that the names of the links didnt match the names of the particular "Freedom" so for example clicking on "Fiscal Freedom" it said "Fiscal Burden" and so on.

Here is the list;
Business Freedom = Regulation
Fiscal Freedom = Fiscal Burden
Freedom from Government = Government Intervention
Monetary Freedom = Monetary Policy
Investment Freedom = Foreign Investment
Financial Freedom = Banking
Labor Freedom = Wages and Prices
Freedom from Corruption = Informal Market

And I thought that was strange...
Corruption is called "Informal Market". Now the wikipedia definition of "Informal Market" is the following;

Informal market

"In economics, the term informal economy refers to the general market income category (or sector) wherein certain types of income and the means of their generation are "unregulated by the institutions of society, in a legal and social environment in which similar activities are regulated."

Simply put, it is economic activity that is neither taxed nor monitored by a government; and is not included in that government's Gross National Product (GNP); as opposed to a formal economy"

Now since the Heritage Foundation only seem to define the lack of laws and regulations imposed on foreign investment by a elected or nonelected government a "freedom", then the very idea of democratic freedom, as in an elected government, is completely irrelevant.

The democratic status of a nation is of no interest, what is interesting is the freedom from "Government Intervention" in your "Foreign Investment" and the ideal "Freedom from Government" would be an "Informal Market" because it completely free from "Government Intervention"

So as i´ve said before corruption is good! Now where can I find the biggest "informal markets" in the world?

"In transition countries by far the largest informal economy was in Georgia with 67.3%"

Now what a coincidence thats number one in the world in "Labor Freedom"

And a statment about China I found interesting was this;

"The informal market must be allowed to flourish, he said. Returns in the informal market are high versus low in the formal sector. This explains why, despite Chinas poor legal and financial structures, it has sustained growth. Informal financing and government arrangements are effective. The fact is that agreements work under the common goal of profit sharing.
The Chinese authority has something to learn from informal arrangements. Its best to allow the informal market to quietly work wonders."
- Khalid Mirza - World Bank manager of finance and private sector development in East Asia and the Pacific region

More;

"Money laundering within China's shadow economy is estimated by some analysts to be the equivalent of 2 to 5 percent of GDP. That would be a staggering $68 billion per year leaking out of the country, although such a sum is hard to verify.

The tax-avoiding black economy is far bigger, running at more than 15 percent of GDP, according to Professor Friedrich Schneider, author of "The Shadow Economy: An International Survey,""

So what the World Bank manager of finance actually says to the chinese government is "dont mess with the Hong Kong money laundering operations".

Another country with very big shadow economy is the US;

"Marijuana, pornography and illegal labour have created a hidden market in the United States which now accounts for as much as 10% of the American economy, according to a study. As a cash crop, marijuana is believed to have outstripped maize, and hardcore porn revenue is equal to Hollywood's domestic box office takings."

Corruption is good! The bad news is that the chinese government is trying to fight it as well as now is calling for a fairer, greener economy...

Update; I saw that Sweden is number one in paying bribes in the world
" The index ranks the leading exporting countries in terms of the degree to which their companies are perceived to be paying bribes. The scale is from 0 to 10, where 10 represents negligible bribery and 0 a very high level of bribery. Based on a survey of nearly 800 business executives conducted in 14 emerging-market countries."