2024 Competitiveness Redbook | Page 35

Economic , Fiscal , and Regulatory Freedom ( 2021 )
Economic Freedom
Score
Fiscal Policy Score
Regulatory
Rank
Rank
Policy Score
Rank
1 Florida
0.45
0.43
1
0.02
21
2 Tennessee
0.42
0.37
2
0.05
16
3 New Hampshire
0.37
0.36
3
0.01
24
4 South Dakota
0.33
0.26
4
0.07
6
5 Idaho
0.30
0.20
11
0.10
4
6 Georgia
0.29
0.22
6
0.07
7
7 Indiana
0.26
0.20
9
0.06
9
8 Michigan
0.23
0.18
13
0.04
17
9 Nevada
0.21
0.20
10
0.01
23
10 Texas
0.20
0.19
12
0.01
22
10 Virginia
0.20
0.16
15
0.04
18
12 Missouri
0.17
0.21
7
-0.03
30
13 Arizona
0.17
0.13
18
0.04
19
14 Colorado
0.14
0.16
16
-0.02
28
15 Arkansas
0.14
0.09
22
0.05
14
15 Kentucky
0.14
0.08
23
0.06
11
17 Pennsylvania
0.13
0.25
5
-0.12
37
18 Alabama
0.13
0.12
19
0.01
25
19 Wisconsin
0.11
0.05
30
0.06
9
20 Wyoming
0.11
0.03
36
0.08
5
21 Utah
0.10
0.03
35
0.07
7
22 North Carolina
0.10
0.09
21
0.01
26
23 North Dakota
0.09
0.04
31
0.05
12
24 South Carolina
0.09
0.04
33
0.05
13
25 Oklahoma
0.09
0.05
29
0.03
20
26 Montana
0.08
0.17
14
-0.09
36
27 Kansas
0.08
-0.05
38
0.13
1
28 Ohio
0.06
0.11
20
-0.06
32
29 Alaska
0.03
0.04
34
0.00
27
30 Massachusetts
0.03
0.21
8
-0.18
42
31 Louisiana
0.01
0.06
26
-0.05
31
32 Connecticut
0.01
0.16
17
-0.15
40
33 Iowa
0.00
-0.11
43
0.11
3
34 Nebraska
-0.02
-0.14
47
0.12
2
35 Illinois
-0.06
0.06
25
-0.13
38
36 West Virginia
-0.08
-0.06
40
-0.02
29
37 Mississippi
-0.09
-0.13
45
0.05
15
38 Washington
-0.12
0.04
32
-0.16
41
39 Minnesota
-0.12
-0.05
39
-0.07
34
40 Rhode Island
-0.14
0.06
27
-0.20
43
41 Maine
-0.16
-0.02
37
-0.14
39
42 Delaware
-0.20
-0.13
44
-0.06
33
43 New Mexico
-0.28
-0.21
48
-0.07
34
44 Maryland
-0.33
0.07
24
-0.40
47
45 Vermont
-0.34
-0.14
46
-0.21
44
46 New Jersey
-0.42
0.06
28
-0.48
49
47 Oregon
-0.43
-0.06
42
-0.37
46
48 California
-0.54
-0.06
40
-0.49
50
49 Hawaii
-0.60
-0.37
50
-0.23
45
50 New York
-0.76
-0.31
49
-0.45
48
According to a study by the Mercatus Center , Washington ’ s economic , fiscal policy , and regulatory freedom ranked 38th , 32nd , and 41st , respectively , among all states in 2021 .
TABLE 28 Source : Cato Institute