TITLE:
No Relationship between Economic Freedom and Economic Growth: A Note
AUTHORS:
Vince Hooper
KEYWORDS:
Washington Consensus, GDP, Economic Freedom
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Business and Management,
Vol.7 No.2,
February
27,
2019
ABSTRACT: The
purpose of this research note is to re-examine the link between economic
freedom and economic growth because the connection has been massively over
played in the past 50 years. Answering this question has important socioeconomic
policy implications as economic freedom as a means of fostering higher economic
growth has been high on the priority list of leading countries like the UK and
US. Indeed, virtually every country in the world has embarked on this agenda of
increasing economic freedom either voluntarily or at the behest of the World
Bank and IMF through Washington Consensus of increasing economic freedom at all
costs. The costs of liberalisation and hence increasing economic freedom have
been ongoing moral hazard problems, heightened financial instability,
unsustainable global debt problems, increased geopolitical risks, greater
economic disequilibrium, the rise of protectionism and international social
upheaval. A new economic development order needs to be constructed based on
solving these issues.