Maine 39th in Economic Freedom Index
A new study by the Mercatus Institute ranks Maine as only the 39th best in terms of economic freedom (pdf). For Maine specifically the study makes 3 recommendations to improve Maine’s freedom index score:
- Reduce standardized testing and notification requirements for homeschoolers.
- Deregulate health insurance in the noted categories.
- Enact blight reform and a full ban on private-toprivate eminent-domain transfers, then codify these provisions in the state constitution.
Also, in the link above, if you don’t like Maine’s freedom score you can alter the values to see how the score would change in their interactive State Freedom Calculator.
Note, however, that Maine’s overall score is ranked higher as the 33rd best in the country. That is because Maine’s ranks as the 7th highest in terms of personal freedom. However, since those issues are outside of MHPC’s mission, I am strictly focusing on Maine’s more dismal economic freedom index.
Oh, and it is worth mentioning that New Hampshire is ranked No. 1 overall in the index (and No. 2 in the economic index).