New Mexico Remains Low on Economic Freedom Measure

Like, the US-based Heritage Foundation does its annual Index of Economic Freedom (Canada ranks higher than the US nowadays), the Canada-based Fraser Institute — a free market think tank based north of the border — ranks economic freedom of the states and provinces of North America.

Not surprisingly, New Mexico performs rather poorly on this index being tied for 47th out of 60 jurisdictions studied (see the chart on page 2). This ranking leaves New Mexico economically freer than only the US states of Montana, Maine, Mississippi, and West Virginia and most Canadian provinces except for Alberta.

What nearby states perform very well? Not surprisingly, Colorado and Texas rank highly. Utah and Nevada also perform well, but all states in the region significantly outperform our own.