VOA标准英语2008年-Economic Freedom Index Shows Some Improvements

By Barry Wood
Washington
16 January 2008

The latest annual index of economic freedom ranks Hong Kong and Singapore on top for the 14th consecutive¹ time. VOA's Barry Wood reports the Heritage Foundation survey shows economic freedom has improved slightly in the last year.

There is little change from the previous year, with four Asia Pacific economies and three from Europe placed in the top 10. The United States ranked fifth behind Australia and Ireland. Chile ranked eighth.

The index measures economic freedom in 10 categories that include property rights, freedom from corruption², labor³, business and regulatory freedom. The 157 countries rated in the Heritage Foundation's index received on average 60 out of 100 possible points, and the overall index improved 2.6 percent since it was first issued in 1995.

The Heritage Foundation is an independent, right-of-center oriented research organization in Washington.

Egypt was ranked the most improved at number 85. Bahrain was judged the freest Arab economy at number 19 and Mauritius the freest in Africa at number 18. Anthony Kim, the Heritage Foundation economist⁴ responsible for the survey, says post-communist countries are making substantial progress. "We have Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovenia, Slovakia - these countries have really been pursuing good reforms in terms of taxation⁵ and cutting their regulatory burden. So they're making progress," he said.

Kim says ** and Vietnam are beginning to make significant progress in economic freedom but neither is among the 100 freest economies.

1 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

2 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

3 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

4 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

5 taxation   

n.征税，税收，税金

参考例句：

• He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。