PRESTOPUNDIT

The 2004 Index of Economic Freedom. America drops to #10, trailing Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, Luxembourg, Ireland, Estonia, United Kingdom, Denmark and Switzerland. "Socialist" Sweden ranks #12 on the list. The big story of the last decade is Ireland at #5 -- and with a bullet. Quotable:

Ireland is a modern, highly industrialized economy that has grown by 80 percent in real terms over the past decade. GDP per capita is now 122 percent of the European Union’s average. Newly re-elected Prime Minister Bertie Ahern .. seems certain to maintain Ireland’s markedly pro-business stance. Ireland has one of the world’s most pro-business environments, especially for foreign businesses and foreign investment. The Ahern government lowered the Irish corporate tax rate from 16 percent to 12.5 percent in January 2003, far below the EU average of 30 percent. Not surprisingly, Ireland has become a major center for U.S. investment in Europe, especially for the computer, software, and engineering industries. Although accounting for 1 percent of the euro-zone market, it receives nearly one-third of U.S. investment in the EU. GDP growth totaled 6.3 percent in 2002 ...

Ireland's Economic Freedom score has dropped from 2.15 to 1.74 since 1995 (lower numbers mean more freedom). It dipped as low as 1.6 in 2001.

Meanwhile, France -- just below Armenia all the way down at #44 --continues to be the sick man of Europe. Quotable:

France remains a relatively statist country. Public expenditure amounted to 52.6 percent of GDP in 2001, and the state employs 25 percent of the workforce—double the percentage in both Germany and the United Kingdom. France also remains awash in regulation. Most notoriously, since February 2000, the legal workweek has been a miniscule 35 hours for firms of 20 or more workers, and it takes twice as long to register a business in France as it does in any other country. France has striven mightily to preserve its overregulated politico-economic culture by adopting protectionist stances in global trading forums. The need for microeconomic reforms in the pensions system is becoming urgent given France’s demographic profile: At present, 10 workers support four pensioners; by 2040, those some 10 workers will be forced to support seven pensioners. Such realities are reflected in France’s persistently high unemployment rate (around 9.3 percent in March 2003) and the fact that France violated the European Union Stability Pact guideline of limiting its deficit to 3 percent of GDP in 2002, with similar violations likely in 2003 and 2004 ...