Around the world, nations stand at a crossroads. Whether they choose the path of economic freedom — as President Donald Trump is doing in the United States — or socialism will determine not only their material prosperity, but the security and flourishing of their people.
That’s the core finding of the Heritage Foundation’s just-released “2026 Index of Economic Freedom.” Pro-growth policies are an investment in the people who make nations strong, resilient and prosperous.
That is certainly the approach President Trump took in 2025. Setting the stage for America’s comeback and paving the way for greater economic dynamism, his policy choices arrested the precipitous decline of America’s economic freedom. America’s Index score for President Joe Biden’s final year in office was its lowest ever.
One critical, unambiguous lesson of the Index over the past decades is that what really matters is the direction and orientation of policy — that is, the change at the margin.
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Driving our post-Bidenomics surge were lower inflation, fiscal reforms and investment freedom, all of which spurred private-sector growth. Contrary to elite handwringers inside the Beltway, no one should be surprised. Lower taxes and fewer, fairer regulations have always boosted dynamism, incentivized entrepreneurship and sharpened America’s competitive edge.
This has been the consistent finding of the Index for the U.S. and the world for decades. Once again in the 2026 Index, nations with greater economic freedom, like Singapore, Switzerland and Ireland, enjoyed high incomes, innovation and institutional strength.
And yet, the world remains mired in narrow-minded, short-sighted Marxist superstitions about political elites’ ability to spend their countrymen’s hard-earned money better than they can spend it themselves.
As the Index reports, socialism’s Washington Generals–esque losing streak continues to span ever-growing chasms of time, geography and culture. Everywhere people are free to compete, innovate, save and invest, nations thrive. Everywhere they’re not, they don’t.
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The Index shows the affluence and ingenuity of free Taiwan versus the backwardness of China’s “repressed” economy. It documents why Israel — despite its permanent security risks — prospers while its resource-rich regional neighbors fall further behind.
Leftist shrieking about the cruelty of markets and the rapacity of capitalism masks the truth that the wealth of nations is mostly a matter of policy, not privilege.
Indeed, the most inspiring story of this year’s Index may be the economic renaissance underway in Central and South America that have embraced economic freedom. Chile has long outperformed its neighbors, both in freedom and prosperity. Now, conservative leaders in Paraguay, El Salvador and especially Argentina are following its lead, transforming nations long strangled by socialism and its attendant corruption.
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Argentina had the best performance in 2025 of any economy measured, climbing from 145th to 106th freest in the world. President Javier Milei famously rescued his nation’s foundering economy by cutting taxes, spending and regulations. In Argentina today, growth is up and inflation is down. Milei’s party’s victory in last fall’s midterm elections vindicated his agenda and the time-tested effectiveness of economic freedom.
Moreover, the Index understands what the Left does not — that economic freedom is true social justice:
“Economic freedom must always serve families, communities and the permanent things… [it] strengthens national security, nourishes civil society and improves the quality of life for all citizens.”
National economic growth is the most inclusive upward-mobility policy in the world. It enables the formation of families, not just businesses. Its surplus supports far more volunteerism than hedge funds. Its innovations make our environment cleaner, our streets safer and our world more cooperative.
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Anyone doubting how much we could use more of that right now needs only to turn on a television. Goodness knows we need as much of it as we can get in America. And all we need for that is for President Trump to stay on his present course. More regulatory reform, spending cuts, domestic energy development, law enforcement — including deportations — and fair trade will keep our economy dynamic, drive prices down and drive wages up.
The world needs America’s economy to grow so that we can continue to generate new investment, protect our interests and serve as a beacon to struggling people everywhere. As ruinous as socialism can be, America is a permanent reminder that there is always hope.
Our nation is made up mostly of people whose ancestors came here with nothing — and built the great economic engine of the world.
The lesson of the latest “Index of Economic Freedom” is that freedom still works and always will for nations with the wisdom and courage to trust their people with it.
