The economy has been in the slowest recovery since World War II. That slow growth has coincided with a steady decline in economic freedom as taxes, spending and regulation have all been on the rise. In fact, a recent Fraser Institute report ranked the United States 16th in the world for economic freedom, down from third in 2000. This is cause for concern, since numerous studies show that economic freedom is associated with prosperity.

The pattern across the states, however, is quite varied and shows promise. According to the newly-released Economic Freedom of North America report, which ranks states on how free their economies are, the average level of freedom at the state and local level has risen slightly in recent years. This is driven in part by slowed growth in tax revenue and government spending during the recession, since states must balance their budgets. The federal government, on the other hand, can just keep on spending by running up larger and larger budget deficits.