I've blogged in the past about the bogus Freedom Index from the right wing think tank The Heritage Foundation. These people are just paid liars on behalf of wealth. They do tremendous damage. I think one could argue that the economists at these right wing think tanks have more blood on their hands than a lot of the dictators frequently decried as horrible. There's the cases many of us know about, such as Pinochet's concentration camps and so many of the other Latin American brutalizers. The right wing economist provided the intellectual justification for the brutality. Same in the former Soviet States and elsewhere.
Heritage has an update, and it's good to see that some others are starting to notice. Isn't it odd that the so called freest states all have heavy government involvement in health care? Up is down at Heritage. We know the countries that really pursue right wing economic policies are hell holes. These polices are usually enforced at the point of a gun, because stupid voters don't want them. So the right wing economist has gotten most of what he's wanted in these locations. Since they are the worst places in the world to live it's necessary for the right wing Heritage Foundation to distance themselves from it.
As a side note, I'd like to at some point take a closer look at Hong Kong, a favorite example for people like Milton Friedman and other right wing economists. Prosperous as measured by per capita GDP, but I'm curious if perhaps inequality means life is not the greatest for ordinary people. I just stumbled across this set of pictures depicting the homes of many. Here's more shots of the exterior of these dwellings. Frankly it's a bit scary. I'm for simple living, but this looks like a horror movie.
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