More on Economic Freedom Mike Rappaport

One of the comments to my previous post on Economic Freedom notes that the states that have the highest per capital incomes are not necessarily those that are the most economically free.  True enough, but that does not suggest economic freedom is not valuable.  First, other things are important for generating wealth, such as population density, education, etc.  Big cities have significant advantages, as does being located in attractive spots on the coasts.  Moreover, some of these advantages to the coasts may derive from their having had economic freedom in the past or special opportunities that come from access to other markets.  Second, the differences between the most free and unfree states are still limited, because federal law is imposed on all states.  Thus, one would expect only limited differences as a result of state law.  The differences across countries are much greater.  Finally, just imagine how wealthy New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts would be if they had economic freedom.