Radley's Link: He's Cato's boy, after all, so he should know about the Cato Economic Freedom of the World report. Some cherce bits:

The EFW index is very useful as a correlate with other desiderata such as income per person, economic growth, income distribution and so on . . . The EFW index is highly correlated with income per capita and economic growth; life expectancy is over 20 years longer in the top economic-freedom quintile compared with the bottom quintile. That economic freedom contributes to a faster growing, more efficient economy that translates into better, longer lives is hardly a controversial finding . . . Many critics of economic freedom focus on the supposed inability of the free-market to create a just distribution of income or in caring for the poor. Exhibits 7 and 9 present the evidence on the validity of these arguments. First, the distribution of income is no more unequal in countries with market-oriented economies than in those that are economically repressive. Moreover, it bears repeating that economically free societies are more productive and that this added productivity translates into higher incomes for all groups.

Hong Kong is still first. Myanmar (Burma) is last. We're in third place, for what it's worth.