According to the 2007 Index of Economic Freedom from The Heritage Foundation, the United States ranks fourth behind Hong Kong, Singapore, and Australia. This year’s methodology was revised, which might account for America’s rise on the list (#9 in 2006 index), but still, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Australia aren’t often thought of (on this side of the Pacific Ocean) as bastions of Capitalism, and yet there they are– ahead of the United States.

Economic freedom, by itself, doesn’t paint a complete picture of any society, which is to say that such a ranking is just that, and little more. However, it should give us ( and hopefully policymakers, too) pause when considering the state of things in America.