Guyana has freest economy in Latin America
GUYANA is listed as having the freest economy in the entire Latin American region and is the 137th freest in the world out of the 179 countries listed according to the united States-based Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal’s 18th World Economic 2012 Report released on Thursday.
The report said Guyana in 2011 made significant strides in freeing up its economy, thanks to a number of policies by the government.
“Guyana was the biggest gainer, up 1.9 points and moving into the “mostly free” category…”Guyana recorded one of the 20 largest score improvements in the 2012 Index and is no longer considered one of the least free in the Index…. the government has acted to improve the management of public finances”. The report said, adding that “reform measures in recent years have streamlined the procedures for establishing a business, and the cost of licenses has been sharply reduced.” 
The report said, Hong Kong and Singapore top the index while the United States falls to 10th as economic freedom declined worldwide in 2011 with many countries attempted — without success — to spend their way out of recession, according to the average economic freedom score for the 2012 index stands at 59.5.
“The mounting burden of reckless government spending has overwhelmed gains in economic freedom in other policy areas,” write the Index editors. “Tension between government control and the free market has heightened around the world, particularly in developed countries” it added.
Hong Kong and Singapore finished first and second in the rankings for the 18th straight year. Australia and New Zealand ranked third and fourth, and Switzerland fifth. Canada finished sixth, slipping almost a full point and falling out of the group of “free” economies into the “mostly free” category.
Chile took seventh place and moved almost a full point toward greater economic freedom. Mauritius was eighth with an overall score of 77 and became the first Sub-Saharan country to rank among the top 10. Ireland finished ninth to best the United States, which dropped to tenth.

The Most Free
1. Hong Kong
2. Singapore
3. Australia
4. New Zealand
5. Switzerland
6. Canada
7. Chile
8. Mauritius
9. Ireland
10. United States

The Least Free
170. Equatorial Guinea
171. Iran
172. D.R. of Congo
173. Burma
174. Venezuela
175. Eritrea
176. Libya
177. Cuba
178. Zimbabwe
179. North Korea

Greece’s Index score declined the most, plunging nearly five points to 55.4. This put it in the middle of the pack of “mostly unfree” economies. Many of Greece’s European neighbours also suffered from exploding government budgets; 37 of the 43 European countries ranked in the Index lost ground in the spending category.
Zimbabwe finished next to last among the 179 countries rated but showed the biggest gains in economic freedom. Its score jumped 4.2 points to move within two points of Cuba at 26.3. Guinea-Bissau jumped 3.6 points, and Iceland improved by 2.7 points.
The Index measures economic freedom in 10 specific categories: labour freedom, business freedom, trade freedom, fiscal freedom, government spending, monetary freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom, property rights and freedom from corruption. Scores in these categories are averaged to create an overall score.