A global effort has been devoted to reducing world poverty. Some claim poverty can be best combated by foreign aid. Others point to the importance of domestic policies, such as those that support or weaken economic freedom. In new research published in this year?s report, Seth Norton and James Gwartney investigate the connection between economic freedom and poverty. Using various measures of poverty, Norton and Gwartney find a strong positive relationship between economic freedom and poverty reduction and call for more research in this area.

This year’s report notes that economic freedom remains on the rise. The average economic freedom score rose from 5.46 (out of 10) in 1980 to 6.65 in the most recent year for which data are available. Of the 102 nations with chain-linked scores going back to 1980, 89 saw an improved score and 13 saw a decrease. In this year?s index, Hong Kong retains the highest rating for economic freedom, 8.94 out of 10, followed by Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Chile, Canada, United States, Australia, and Ireland.