As Adam Smith, Milton Friedman, and Friedrich Hayek have stressed, freedom of exchange and market coordination provide the fuel for economic progress. In the 2014 Economic Freedom of the World report, global economic freedom decreased slightly. Hong Kong retained the highest rating for economic freedom, followed by Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland, Mauritius, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Australia, Jordan, Chile, and Finland. The United States, long considered the standard bearer for economic freedom among large industrial nations, has fallen precipitously from second in 2000 to 8th in 2005 to 12th in this year’s report.

• 2014 Economic Freedom of the World

In the new “Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s Governors,” Cato scholars Nicole Kaeding and Chris Edwards examine the tax and spending decisions made by U.S. governors since 2012. Governors who have cut taxes and spending the most receive the highest grades, while those who have increased taxes and spending the most receive the lowest grades. Only four governors were awarded an “A” in this latest report card — Pat McCrory of North Carolina, Sam Brownback of Kansas, Paul LePage of Maine, and Mike Pence of Indiana.

• “Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s Governors 2014,” by Nicole Kaeding and Chris Edwards
• “Governors Make Fiscal Progress,” by Chris Edwards and Nicole Kaeding

We are now just over one year into the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations, and it is time for an evaluation of what has been achieved. Are the talks progressing as rapidly as hoped? Are the hurdles surmountable? Will this giant free-trade zone actually come to fruition?  A new bulletin from Cato scholar Simon Lester examines the current state of the TTIP talks relative to expectations and in the larger context of the world trading system.

• “One Year into the TTIP Negotiations: Getting to Yes,” by Simon Lester

Given its overall popularity with the general public, it could be viewed as surprising that approximately half of the states still have not legalized medical marijuana. Opponents of medical marijuana, however, have employed a number of arguments, several of which focus on marijuana use by teenagers.  New research from D. Mark Anderson, Benjamin Hansen and Daniel I. Rees examines the relationship between medical marijuana laws and marijuana consumption among high school students.  Their results suggest that the legalization of medical marijuana is not accompanied by increases in marijuana use among high school students.

• “Medical Marijuana Laws and Teen Marijuana Use,” by D. Mark Anderson, Benjamin Hansen and Daniel I. Rees