If you believe the United States is a bastion of economic freedom and the safest place to accumulate property knowing your rights are protected, you may have to think again. This report reveals what many have feared:

Shock Report: U.S. protection of property rights drops to 30th among nations

CC by Paparutzi
The link between economic freedom and prosperity is undeniable: the nations with the most economic freedom also offer people the best quality of life. In the United States, that quality is slipping away at an alarming rate.

According to Fraser’s 2013 “Economic Freedom of the World” report, “Unfortunately for the United States, we’ve seen overspending, weakening rule of law, and regulatory overkill on the part of the U.S. government, causing its economic freedom score to plummet in recent years.”

From 1980 to 2000, most reports generally considered the United States the third freest economy in the world behind Hong Kong and Singapore. Today, we are in 17th place.

But the slippage of our economic freedoms pales in comparison to the plummet of property rights and their legal protections in the United States. Once a Mecca for those who value their personal and property rights, today the U.S. places a meager 30th among the world’s nations.

Even Socialist countries like Finland (1), Germany (15) and Chile (26) have a greater respect for property rights than the U.S.

Property rights mean little without a legal system that supports them. The United States falls short in this category too. It took the Sacketts of Priest Lake Idaho, four years of legal actions, just to gain the right to sue to protect their own property from a questionable EPA classification as a wetland. Today, the battle continues in court.

As the Fraser report notes, “the protection of rightfully acquired property is a central element in economic freedom.” When regulations expand beyond basic protections and create barriers to voluntary exchanges, they reduce economic freedom.

HUD’s 2013 regulation, “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” enables the agency to interfere in local planning and a Nov. 1, 2013 Executive Order, affords the president nearly unlimited authority to infringe on neighborhoods, property rights and livelihoods in the name of climate change preparedness.

“Protection of property rights under the rule of law, including the fruits of our labor is critical to freedom.” It is impossible to have freedom of exchange, if each person does not have full protection of their property rights.

Yet, in the attempt to appear socially just and environmentally conscious, Americans have displayed an unbounded willingness to welcome property rights’ infringements and even confiscation.

In America, the sweat of ones’ brow requires fealty to local, state and federal governments. This makes it nearly impossible for an hourly laborer to establish a fair market value for his toil knowing he will be fully rewarded.

While property rights are only one component of economic freedom, they are the foundation for living well today and accumulating wealth for tomorrow. As these rights slip away, so too do our hopes for the present and our dreams for the future.

John Anthony, Founder
Protecting rights together,
Sustainable Freedom Lab