Nikos Rompapas: “While some are chasing the bogeyman of neoliberalism, Greece’s economic freedom is similar to that of China and Swaziland”
Greece occupies the 108th place among 162 countries in this year’s “Economic Freedom of the World” report which was announced today by the Fraser Institute of Canada and depicts data from 2016.
Despite the fact that last year’s survey was about 2015, a year of severe deterioration in the country’s economic and social situation due to the political manipulations that eventually led to capital controls and the question of the country’s membership in the eurozone, Greece in this year’s index climbed 3 places.
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Our country shares the same performance with China and Swaziland this year (108th) regarding the degree of economic freedom. Greece continues to occupy the worst position among all EU member states, but also all Southeast European countries.
Let us note that among the EU member states, the country that’s next to last on top of Greece in terms of performance, Croatia, is in 75th place, 33 places above our country. Yet even in comparison with the non-EU countries of Southeastern Europe, the country with the immediate better performance than Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina, is 98th, 10 places above our country. It is also indicated, that Romania occupies the 20th position, Albania is 34th, and Bulgaria is 46th.
The world’s five best performing countries are the same as last year, as Hong Kong is again at the top of the index, followed by Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland and Ireland.
Venezuela is still last among the 162 countries.
See more about this year’s Frazer Institute’s report on Economic Freedom of the World.
The index measures the degree of economic freedom present in five major areas: Size of Government, Legal System, Access to Strong Currency, Freedom to Trade Internationally and Regulation in Banking, Workforce and Entrepreneurship. Major surveys consistently confirm that people living in countries with a high degree of economic freedom enjoy a higher level of prosperity, have wider political and social rights and a longer life expectancy.
The Fraser Institute presents an annual study on Economic Freedom of the World in collaboration with the Economic Freedom of the World Network, a network of independent research and educational institutes from about 100 countries. KEFiM presents for the 3rd consecutive year the report in Greece, in collaboration with the Fraser Institute.
The Executive Director of KEFiM Nikos Rompapas made the following comment:
“Once again Greece has a disappointing position regarding its economic freedom, again having the worst performance both among the EU countries and among all the Balkan countries. It is tragic irony, while some in Greece continue to chase the bogeyman of neoliberalism, our country’s economic freedom being equivalent to China and Swaziland. The sooner we as a society perceive this contradiction, the sooner we will deal with the real and profound causes of our misfortune.”
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