Thought you might find this

[pappytinker]

Interesting

Subject: most free states summary

(link for full report) http://mercatus.org/sites/all/modules/custom/mercatus_50_states/files/Freedom50States2011.pdf

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This study comprehensively ranks the American states on their public policies that affect individual freedoms in the economic, social, and personal spheres. It updates, expands, and improves upon our inaugural 2009 Freedom in the 50 States study. For this new edition, we have added more policy variables (such as bans on trans fats and the audio recording of police, Massachusetts’s individual health-insurance mandate, and mandated family leave), improved existing measures (such as those for fiscal poli*cies, workers’ compensation regulations, and asset-forfeiture rules), and developed specific policy prescriptions for each of the 50 states based on our data and a survey of state policy experts. With a consistent time series, we are also able to discover for the first time which states have improved and worsened in regard to freedom recently.

Our approach to measuring freedom in the states is unique in three respects: (1) it includes measures of social and personal freedoms such as peaceable citizens’ rights to educate their own children, to own and carry firearms, and to be free from unrea*sonable search and seizure; (2) it incorporates more than 150 distinct public policies; and (3) it is particularly careful to measure fiscal policies in a way that reflects the true cost of government to the citizen.

We find that the overall freest states in the country are New Hampshire and South Dakota, which together achieve a virtual tie for first place, while New York is the least free by a considerable margin. On personal freedom alone, Oregon now comes first, with Vermont and Nevada not too far behind, and Maryland brings up the rear. On economic freedom alone, South Dakota easily takes first, and New York is a distant last. The most improved states since the last edition of our study are Oregon, Nevada, Maine, and Washington, while Wyoming, California, Arizona, and Massachusetts have fallen the furthest. Two of the most intriguing findings of our statistical analysis are that Americans are voting with their feet and moving to states with more economic and personal freedom and that economic freedom correlates with income growth.

The data used to create the rankings are available online at Home | Mercatus (http://mercatus.org/) freedom-50-states-2011, and we invite others to see how the overall state freedom rankings might change given their own weightings of the various public policie

TABLE 2: REGULATORY POLICY RANKING

STATE
REGULATORY FREEDOM

1. Indiana
0.165

2. Iowa
0.154

3. Utah
0.135

4. Virginia
0.124

5. North Dakota
0.118

6. Nebraska
0.115

7. South Dakota
0.114

8. Georgia
0.113

9. Kansas
0.111

10. Alabama
0.105

11. Michigan
0.097

12. South Carolina
0.093

13. Idaho
0.087

14. Arizona
0.084

15. Wisconsin
0.079

16. Wyoming
0.071

17. North Carolina
0.066

18. New Hampshire
0.058

19. Tennessee
0.055

20. Delaware
0.054

21. Florida
0.053

22. Oklahoma
0.050

23. Pennsylvania
0.044

24. Missouri
0.043

25. Colorado
0.039

26. Texas
0.019

27. Illinois
–0.005

28. Kentucky
–0.005

29. Alaska
–0.006

30. Mississippi
–0.022

31. Nevada
–0.035

32. Oregon
–0.036

33. Ohio
–0.046

34. Arkansas
–0.063

35. Vermont
–0.063

36. Maine
–0.073

37. Louisiana
–0.078

38. Minnesota
–0.080

39. Connecticut
–0.083

40. New York
–0.090

41. New Mexico
–0.099

42. Montana
–0.101

43. Hawaii
–0.117

44. Maryland
–0.119

45. West Virginia
–0.126

46. Rhode Island
–0.173

47. California
–0.184

48. Washington
–0.187

49. Massachusetts
–0.222

50. New Jersey
–0.239

Source: Authors’ calculations.



TABLE 5: OVERALL FREEDOM RANKING

STATE
OVERALL FREEDOM

1. New Hampshire
0.441

2. South Dakota
0.414

3. Indiana
0.344

4. Idaho
0.343

5. Missouri
0.315

6. Nevada
0.315

7. Colorado
0.303

8. Oregon
0.285

9. Virginia
0.274

10. North Dakota
0.225

11. Florida
0.224

12. Oklahoma
0.223

13. Iowa
0.221

14. Texas
0.211

15. Georgia
0.188

16. Tennessee
0.168

17. Kansas
0.161

18. North Carolina
0.158

19. Alabama
0.151

20. Utah
0.141

21. Wyoming
0.119

22. Arizona
0.092

23. Nebraska
0.082

24. Mississippi
0.061

25. Wisconsin
0.026

26. South Carolina
0.014

27. Michigan
0.013

28. Arkansas
0.000

29. Montana
–0.007

30. Vermont
–0.047

31. Pennsylvania
–0.050

32. Kentucky
–0.053

33. Maine
–0.060

34. Minnesota
–0.140

35. Louisiana
–0.143

36. West Virginia
–0.146

37. New Mexico
–0.178

38. Connecticut
–0.180

39. Delaware
–0.196

40. Washington
–0.196

41. Illinois
–0.200

42. Ohio
–0.215

43. Maryland
–0.268

44. Alaska
–0.300

45. Rhode Island
–0.383

46. Massachusetts
–0.393

47. Hawaii
–0.445

48. California
–0.487

49. New Jersey
–0.505

50. New York
–0.752

Source: Authors’ calculations.

[Blademaker]

hmmmmmmmm...........interesting.

Thanks:cert:

[FRISKY]

Two of the most intriguing findings of our statistical analysis are that Americans are voting with their feet and moving to states with more economic and personal freedom and that economic freedom correlates with income growth. Duh!


Those lists only show 50-states...what happened to the other seven?

[Chris Fowler]

I have to say the results surprised me.

I was expecting to see freedom graded using a very "liberal" version of the word "free", but I think they did a good job capturing the types of freedom that are removed by both liberal and conservative viewpoints.

[joecaver]

Interesting that this report is written by a very conservative think tank that both defined the problem and the criteria used to measure the problem. To say that the answer was pre determined doesn't seem much of a stretch. They are far from being an independant seekers of truth. They have an agenda and truth is not it.

[pappytinker]

Well, I live in Indiana (at or near the high end of the range), my brother lives in New York and my mother lived in Massachusetts (both at or near the opposite end of the range) where we were all together at one time. I have lived in New Jersey and worked there for a time. I feel much freer where I live than I ever feel when visiting either my brother or my mother or the friends I still have in Massachusetts. New Jersey may have changed but I tend to avoid that state like the plague.

Try to get a carry permit in either NY or Massachusetts.

Those who have never experienced it don't know what it means to be free.

[78SA]

#1 and #3 on the lists!! :dance: