How free is Florida compared to other states?
Bottom Line: In a separate story I’ve outlined the how the United States compares in overall freedom around the world. The news wasn’t ideal, based on the study you prefer we’re 15th or 17th. Far freer than most of the world but no longer the beacon of freedom this country was founded upon. This is largely because of freedoms we’ve ceded to state and federal governments overtime. It’s something we should be mindful of in the future when voting as well. We don’t really have elections which center on the idea of whether freedom specifically is on the ballot but in reality, it is. And it’s not complicated if you support candidates who support more government intervention in our lives and the accompanying higher taxes. You support less freedom. Period. Perhaps I’ll be mindful to frame it accordingly in the future. Anyway, here we sit in the 15th or 17th most free country in world and specifically in Florida. So how does living in Florida factor into our overall freedom? Rather, well.
According to the study Economic Freedom of North America by the Fraser Institute, Florida is the 2nd freest state in the country. Appropriately only New Hampshire, the Live free or Die” state ranks ahead of us. Your top five states for freedom are...
- New Hampshire
- Florida
- Texas
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
You’ll notice a political trend. These are all traditional red states. Political leadership clearly does matter. Now you might be thinking New Hampshire voted for Biden, Clinton and Obama - thus it’s a blue state but it’s not. Not at the state level. They have a Republican governor (and have for most of their history) and actually just flipped their state legislature from Democrats to Republicans in this election cycle. And guess what the least free states are...?
If you guessed California and New York...you’re correct. There are times when perception meets reality. But even then, that’s not to say Florida is next to perfect. Our score is a 7.74 out of ten. We’ve ceded a lot of freedom with high taxes at the local level – especially in South Florida. Still, it’s a far cry from the 4.13 score of New York. In reality you’re nearly half as free in New York compared to Florida. I wonder what the State of Liberty would say?
Photo Credit: Getty Images