Free trade (not "fair trade") = Prosperity

The Wall Street Journal released their annual Report on Economic Freedom.

An exerpt from the editorial:

"Here's bad news for those who oppose global free trade: Not only did the world-wide trend toward greater economic liberty hold steady over the past year, but the incomes of poor individuals across the globe are rising as result. The world isn't only growing richer. The gap between the per-capita income of have-not populations and that of the developed world is narrowing."

The rankings are here. Some countries to note are:

1. Hong Kong (naturally)

2. Singapore (no surprise)

3. Australia

4. United States (of course)

6. UK

7. Ireland

10. Canada

11. Chile

12. Estonia (see FDC 1/11/2008 post)

49. Mexico (see FDC 1/12/2008 post)

119. China (a long way to go)

120. Russia (a long way to go, but going in the wrong direction)

142. Syria

144. Venezuela (Hugo, look at the bottom of this list. Getting any clues??)

150. Iran (of course)

156. Cuba (ditto)

DEAD LAST #157: North Korea (or more formally, The Democratic People's Republic of Korea)

We don't need to build a wall...

...and we don't need to deport illegal aliens. With all due respect to many of my conservative friends who want to solve the illegal immigration crisis here in the US with either of these two options, there is one solution that is almost never considered. The Mexican government needs to create incentives for illegal aliens in the US to self-deport themselves, or to not export themselves to our country in the first place. How in God's name can we do that? The Mexican government needs to establish firm property rights and rule of law that the citizens can trust to protect their personal interests.

Here in the US, we take property rights and rule of law for granted. Americans enter into contracts and such willy-nilly without a care in the world. Whether it be to buy a car, buy real estate, apply for a patent on a new invention, or even just sign a contract for two-years of service when we purchase a cell phone. Why are we so carefree? Because we know that if the other party fails to perform on their end of the contract that we have legal recourse. If you stop and think about it, property rights and rule of law bound together really are the linchpins holding all of America's economic wheels on - and liberty is the engine making it go. Not so in Mexico - and it is what's holding back the country from having a productive economy that creates enough jobs to keep their population home.

The FDC had a tough time finding a link to find some support for my position, but I did find this two year-old article here (the author has a cool eye patch, eh?) Although, this seems to be a solution that is not really on the table, I'm sure that the late Milton Friedman would concur.