• Hong Kong marks 20 years as world’s freest economy — Sweden at no 20

The Index of Economic Freedom for 2014, published annually by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal, showed that Hong Kong, along with Singapore, Australia and Switzerland were judged the freest economies in the world.

Sweden came in at number 20:

“Sweden’s economic freedom score is 73.1, making its economy the 20th freest in the 2014 Index. Its score has increased by 0.2 point since last year, with improvements in fiscal freedom and trade freedom outweighing combined small declines in business freedom, labor freedom, and freedom from corruption. Sweden is ranked 10th out of 43 countries in the Europe region, and its overall score is above the world and regional averages.

“Over the 20-year history of the Index, Sweden has advanced its economic freedom score by 11.7 points, the second best improvement among developed economies. Substantial increases in eight of the 10 economic freedoms, including financial freedom, the management of public spending, business freedom, and investment freedom, have enabled the economy to advance from “moderately free” to “mostly free.” In the 2014 Index, Sweden has achieved its highest economic freedom score ever.

“Openness to global trade and commerce has propelled economic dynamism, and Sweden has rebounded relatively quickly from the global recession. The financial system remains stable, and prudent regulations allowed banks to withstand the global financial turmoil with little disruption. Sweden has long benefited from institutional strengths that include strong protection of property rights and minimum tolerance for corruption.