John Blundell talks about the Index of Economic Freedom, an annual publication of The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal, which measures a country’s economic freedom.

He talks about the elements that are analyzed in order to carry out the measurement: business, trade, fiscal, monetary, investment, corruption, financial, and labor freedoms; government spending and property rights. He elaborates on how this insightful tool summarizes the overall situation of different countries around the world, and the direct correlation existing between the score each country receives and the impact the measured elements have on the economic growth.

He shows data of the 2011 version of the index and comments on how several countries have improved and how others have been submerged into a state of null growth. He also comments on how Guatemala ranks worldwide, and points out the challenge that Guatemalans face in the strengthening of the macroeconomic development process, in order to rank higher, and ideally, be assessed as a free country.