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The ranking, which takes in 186 states and special administrative regions (the latter including perennial winner Hong Kong), examines the extent to which individuals in a given society “are free to work, produce, consume, and invest in any way they please.”
Of the ten factors considered in the 2014 index, Poland performed best in Trade Freedom, a category which concerns the absence of tariff and non-tariff barriers relating to imports and exports of goods and services.
Another strong sphere for Poland was Monetary Freedom, which pertains to price stability and price controls.
“Over the 20-year history of the Index, Poland’s economic freedom score has advanced by about 16 points, a top-20 improvement,” the Heritage Foundation summed up on its official web site.
“With increases in nine of the 10 economic freedoms and no declines, Poland has risen since 2002 to the rank of 'moderately free,'” the foundation added.
“Structural reforms include trade liberalization, privatization, implementation of a competitively low corporate tax rate, and modernization of the regulatory environment.
Overall, Poland scored 67 points. Winner Hong Kong managed 90.1, followed by Singapore (89.4), Australia (82), Switzerland (81.6) and New Zealand (81.2).
Of Poland's former neighbours behind the Iron Curtain, Estonia was the highest placed in 11th position (75.9 points). Other strong performers included Lithuania in 21st place (73 points) and the Czech Republic in 26th (72.2 points). Poland came ahead of Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia, among others.
The Economic Freedom Index was launched by the Heritage Foundation in 1995, together with the Wall Street Journal. (nh)
Source: IAR/heritage.org