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Reading various recent posts from some of our libertarian friends (deliberately using small "l" here to give all of them the benefit of the doubt) led me to start wondering if there were any examples of successful political systems in the world that embodied these principles. A little research revealed that while there were none that are totally libertarian in all senses, there were some exemplars pointed to by those of the libertarian persuasion, one list can be found here. To save you some time, the top 10 of these were as follows:
1. Estonia
2. Ireland
3. Canada
4. Switzerland
5. Iceland
6. Bahamas
7. UK
8. US
9. Cyprus
10. New Zealand
The arch-conservative Heritage Foundation has a similar list based solely on "economic freedom", their top ten are:
1. Hong Kong (wait a minute, isn't this now part of the PRC???)
2. Singapore
3. Australia
4. New Zealand
5. Ireland
6. Switzerland
7. Canada
8. US
9. Denmark
10. Chile
Looking at those countries in either list above the US, it's interesting (but no surprise) to note that ALL OF THEM have robust public health care options (I checked). It should be noted that Switzerland's model is a little different than some, but nonetheless guarantees health care for all citizens. These countries recognize that while individual freedoms may be paramount, free markets alone do not provide viable health care, and thus government has some responsibility in regulating health care and managing costs.
By the way, all of the top seven have some form of government managed pension or social security as well.
"Investigative reporter David Cay Johnston explores in his new book how in recent years, government subsidies and new regulations have quietly funneled money from the poor and the middle class to the rich and politically connected."
"Fresh Air" interview with David Cay Johnston on National Public Radio.
