The Cato Institute – a Libertarian think tank -released an infographic on Monday that ranks overall freedom among the states that make up America, with NY ranking at dead last.
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The report ranked NY last for economic and personal freedom. Cato then calculated the cost each government policy creates on each of those freedoms to assemble the ranked list.
Click on a state to see its overall ranking and analysis. New York’s local tax burden is twice that of the average state …
Each indicator is weighted differently. The government spends nearly four times what the average state does on subsidies to business.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has billed NY as the progressive capital of the nation, and he has hailed the state’s steps to provide services to its neediest residents, install tough gun-control laws and legalize same-sex marriage in 2011. Land-use freedom is very low, primarily because of the economically devastating rent control law in New York City … “As it is, NY looks set to remain the least free state for many years to come”. The five most free states in the union are New Hampshire, Alaska, Oklahoma, Indiana and South Dakota.
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The other states rounding out the bottom five include California, Hawaii, New Jersey and Maryland. The authors report the state has low incarceration rates and drug arrests, and they call it “one of the best states in the country for gun rights”.
