260 Dean Stansel – NM is 42nd in Index of Economic Freedom in North America

On this week’s podcast, Paul interviews Dean Stansel. Dean is a Research Associate Professor at the Bridwell Institute for Economic Freedom in the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University, but the main topic of the discussion is the 2020 version of the Fraser Institute’s Index of Economic Freedom of North America.

New Mexico lags its region dramatically in the Index (coming in at 42nd overall) even though the data in this particular Index are from 2018, the final year of Gov. Susana Martinez’s term in office. Dean and Paul discuss the components of economic freedom and why it matters in alleviating the poverty that is all-too-common in New Mexico.
In addition to the document above you can explore the data over time (and international rankings of economic freedom) using this interactive website.