On Nov. 28, the Canada-based Fraser Institute released the
eighth edition of its annual report, Economic Freedom of North
America 2012, in which the respective economic situation and
government regulatory factors present in the states and
provinces of North America were gauged. Global studies of
economic freedom, such as the Heritage Foundation’s 2012 Index
of Economic Freedom and the Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom
of the World 2012, rank the United States and Canada as two of
the most economically free countries in the world. But, as data
from the North America report shows, not all sections of the
countries are experiencing an equal level of economic freedom
and it is important to look at areas in which this falters.
States and provinces were evaluated and ranked within three
categories: 1) Size of Government; 2) Takings and Discriminatory
Taxation; and 3) Labor Market Freedom. The Canadian province,
Alberta, claimed the top spot as most economically free,
followed closely by Delaware. New Mexico place