Every year the Heritage Foundation evaluates all the world’s countries using their Index of Economic Freedom, where a high score correlates to nearly every positive measure of a country.
In 2003, the Goldman Sachs Global Economics Department predicted the economic and geopolitical influence of Brazil, Russia, India and China (the BRIC countries) would become increasingly visible in the developed world. We revisit those countries here.
The bonus in returns of countries with freedom over and above the MSCI EAFE foreign index ranges from 1.28% to 1.91%.
Under weighting Canada could have the effect of diminishing your returns. If your fund under weights Canada, consider switching to a lower cost fund which properly represents it.
In 2016, the average return of the best investment products of the Freedom Six outperformed the Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF by 6.75%.
The future may be uncertain, but the markets are quite reliable in the long run.
That is a tremendous advantage for businesses in states with less regulatory burden.
Should we have a “Free Countries Asset Class” or a “Foreign Stock Asset Class?”
“We still have plenty of problems, but we’re much better than France, Britain and Germany.”
At first glance, AUNZ did not have great returns in 2014. But is that the whole story?
It is a simple thought experiment. Would you rather invest in South Korea or in North Korea?
Freedom investing beat the EAFE Foreign index by 7.92% in 2014.
Recently we did an analysis of the returns of the MSCI Country Specific Indexes
“When institutions protect the liberty of individuals, greater prosperity results for all.” – Adam Smith
Over the past decade the economically free countries have an annualized return of 11.34%. The S&P 500’s annualized return was 7.78%.
Economic freedom enriches society, lifts the poor out of poverty and respects the agency and dignity of human choice.
The portfolio of the five freedom countries has an annualized return of 11.06% over the past decade.
Economic Freedom is a good investing strategy.
Is economic freedom related to other kinds of freedoms? Does economic freedom affect personal choice?
David John Marotta was interviewed recently on radio 1070’s WINA Schilling Show discussing property rights and their importance for a free society.
This kitten invests in countries with economic freedom. Be more like this kitten.
“Until the deficit is eliminated from our budget, … there is no end to inflation; there is finally no end to taxation; and the eventual result would, of course, be catastrophe.”
Even if democracy is the principal objective, encourage the rule of law.
Property rights are among the characteristics most correlated with high levels of per capita gross domestic product (GDP).
Does a property owner have the right to use and dispose of his property as he sees fit even if that means he is being irrational, arbitrary, capricious, even unjust?
Follow-up information for 2013 AAII presentation “Dynamic Portfolio Construction in the Context of Comprehensive Wealth Management.”
“Unless we begin to close this gap, then the inevitable result will be that our debt/GDP ratio will continue to rise, the Fed would print money to pay for the deficiency, inflation would follow, and the dollar would inevitably decline.”
MarketWatch is seeking a top-notch writer who will bring a fresh perspective on money to the world’s investors. We believe that fresh perspective ought to include the idea of freedom investing.
Sometimes the medium term trend seems to weigh more heavily in our minds than the long or short term trends.
Countries are constantly in flux, and with all the noise of the markets, it is easy for the noise drown out the signal.
How the five countries with the most economic freedom (Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Switzerland and Canada) and Emerging Markets have been faring in comparison to the EAFE Index?
Freedom scores ranged from #1 in freedom Hong Kong at 89.9 to #92 ranked mostly unfree Italy at 58.8.
Over the past five years, countries with the most economic freedom averaged annual returns just below emerging markets.
Sovereign debt and deficit weigh most heavily on a country’s level of government spending, one of the ten components of freedom in the Heritage Foundation economic freedom study
We believe this is one of the times when your asset allocation should tilt foreign and overweight the handful of countries with high economic freedom.
New Zealand, the fourth highest country in economic freedom, joined the United States with positive returns for 2011.
The equation of the trend line shows that every point on the freedom index was worth 0.36% annual return over the past year.
Now at year end, I will review how freedom investing fared in 2011 and in the decade since 2002.
The world markets groaned as the burden of the rising American debt and the European deficit weighed down more productive countries.
Q: I have put my investments in bonds until this global economic crisis settles down and the economic woes of the European Union subside. Do you have any suggestions for indicators that I should look for to get back in?
This is what makes the stock market in some countries better than others. Make sure that you understand freedom investing for your portfolio.
Growing investor despair that somehow we have entered into a new era in which individual investors can no longer make money in the markets is an overreaction to the headlines.
Libertarians and economists both recognize that countries with more economic freedom experience higher gross domestic product (GDP) growth. That growth translates into higher stock returns for investors savvy enough to look for governmental fiscal restraint rather than government stimulus.
The legendary PBS TV series “Free to Choose” (1980) by Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman is now available on Google Video for free (by courtesy of the Palmer R. Chitester Fund).
International bonds now make up more than 35% of the world’s investable assets, and yet many domestic investors have little or no exposure to these securities.
On Jun 21, 2011, David John Marotta appeared on Radio 1070 WINA’s Schilling Show to discuss which countries to avoid investing in, or to underweight, due to high debt and deficit and low economic freedom.
Americans seem to be divided on the importance of raising the U.S. debt ceiling. Regardless of your personal politics, avoid investing in countries that cavalierly allow their debt and deficit to balloon.
Finding countries where you can plant your investments in fertile soil may be one of the most important asset allocation decisions you make for the next several years.
A few months ago Bill Gross, co-founder of PIMCO and the country’s most prominent bond expert, singled out those countries heaping significant deficits on their mountain of debt and called them “The Ring of Fire.” We recommend that you reduce your investments in these countries.
Eastern European countries have been struggling out of the darkness of communist rule into the light of free markets.
Free markets thrive when a country guarantees property rights and the rule of law. China possesses neither of these.