# So what was/is the most finanically libertarian government ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 24, 2008, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-is-the-most-finanically-libertarian-government/442563 "2008-03-24T18:18:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2008, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-is-the-most-finanically-libertarian-government/442563/1 "2008-03-24T18:18:33Z")
So politically discussions inevitably comes down to pointing out examples of past or current left-wing or right-wing governments, and their strengths or short-comings (more often the latter). Thats all well and good. But has libertarianism ever actually been tried in practice ? What is the most finianically libertarian government today ? What is the most libertarian government in history ? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2008, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-is-the-most-finanically-libertarian-government/442563/2 "2008-03-24T18:32:20Z")
Rhode Island under Roger Williams was founded as a breakaway colony to avoid religious dogmatism in Massachusetts; don’t know about its economic policies, though. Chile under Pinochet in the 1970s-80s, advised by “the [University of] Chicago Boys,” was very freewheeling/libertarian economically - but on the social justice/personal liberty side of things, um, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2008, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-is-the-most-finanically-libertarian-government/442563/3 "2008-03-24T18:43:24Z")
United States 1800-1933. Unasked-for political addendum: And you can see how well that worked. At least for the plutocrats. ---
**Author:** ![Ocelot1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/258eb7/32.png) [@Ocelot1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ocelot1)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-is-the-most-finanically-libertarian-government/442563/4 "2008-03-24T18:48:51Z")
Early Icelandic settlement was pretty libertarian, 872-1000. Taxes were almost non existant and laws were recited each year at althing by lawsayer. They were pretty simple because remembering a lot was too hard. Anyone with gold could make currency (it was blended by a legal formulae) and law and order was privatised to the extent that most punishment was handled by legal private bounties. Worked rather well until christianity kicked in. Christianity had the effect of creating an oligarcy of a warrior caste (xian tax reasons), which really meant large scale battles decimating the population and ultimately the takeover of the Norwegian King. * * * Really the most libertarian places in the world now should be a country where taxes are low and the government can be easily bought of. Russia would be one. [www.stateofworldliberty.org](http://www.stateofworldliberty.org) has a chart of the countries with the most economic liberties that Im not really impressed with, even thought Iceland hits #5. 1 Estonia 2 Ireland 3 Canada 4 Switzerland 5 Iceland 6 Bahamas 7 United Kingdom 8 United States 9 Cyprus 10 New Zealand 11 Luxembourg 12 Chile 13 Australia 14 Hong Kong 15 Finland 16 Lithuania 17 Austria 18 Uruguay 19 Netherlands 20 Latvia 21 Germany 22 Denmark ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2008, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-is-the-most-finanically-libertarian-government/442563/5 "2008-03-24T20:01:04Z")
Milton Friedman often cited Hong Kong (under British rule) in the 20th Century as the best living example of an economically liberal state. Not that it was “libertaria”, per se, but the closest thing. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2008, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-is-the-most-finanically-libertarian-government/442563/6 "2008-03-25T14:57:07Z")
[QUOTE=griffin1977] But has libertarianism ever actually been tried in practice?What is the most finianically libertarian government today? [/quote] The [Heritage Foundation](http://www.heritage.org/Index/countries.cfm) compiles an “Index of Economic Freedom” every year which ranks countries on their economic “libertarian-ness”. Hong Kong does indeed rank #1, as of 2008. According to the Foundation, > [@](#): > > **How do you measure economic freedom?** > We measure 10 specific factors, and average them equally into a total score. Each one of the 10 freedoms is graded using a scale from 0 to 100, where 100 represents the maximum freedom. A score of 100 signifies an economic environment or set of policies that is most conducive to economic freedom. The ten component freedoms are: > > Business Freedom | Trade Freedom | Fiscal Freedom | Government Size | Monetary Freedom | Investment Freedom | Financial Freedom | Property rights | Freedom from Corruption | Labor Freedom > [@griffin1977](#): > > What is the most libertarian government in history? I know of no such ranking from earlier eras, and it would be difficult to compile one retrospectively, as economic statistics become less reliable and the impact of restrictive laws and regulations become harder to assess in the past. How would one assess the impact of guild restrictions, feudal dues, serfdom, or slavery? > [@Rocketeer](#): > > United States 1800-1933. Cite? > [@Rocketeer](#): > > Unasked-for political addendum: And you can see how well that worked. At least for the plutocrats. Cite? Or is it your preference to post an unsourced WAG accompanied by an asinine drive-by political dig? ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2008, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-is-the-most-finanically-libertarian-government/442563/7 "2008-03-25T15:31:30Z")
[QUOTE=Freddy the Pig] Cite? Cite? Or is it your preference to post an unsourced WAG accompanied by an asinine drive-by political dig? [/QUOTE] I’m trying to figure out whether I deserved this whacking. It’s true, I introduced a non-objective political dig, but I did label it as such. And I think it could legitimately be argued that the USA in the time period mentioned had a minimum of laws regulating business and personal economic conduct, and a quite low overall tax burden, and was, in fact, a quite libertarian society. The conclusion I draw from US history is that the untrammelled operation of the free market tends to result in wild swings of the economy, with frequent depressions, anticompetitive monopolistic behaviors, and the concentration of power in the hands of a few people, with the masses getting little. But alas, I have no cites for this. ---
**Author:** ![Renob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8c91f0/32.png) [@Renob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renob)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2008, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-is-the-most-finanically-libertarian-government/442563/8 "2008-03-25T15:58:36Z")
[QUOTE=Rocketeer] And I think it could legitimately be argued that the USA in the time period mentioned had a minimum of laws regulating business and personal economic conduct, and a quite low overall tax burden, and was, in fact, a quite libertarian society. [/QUOTE] You’d do well to read better history books if you think this is an accurate description of American history. The economy in that era did have fewer regulations but it was far from libertarian. Many businessmen (quite a few of those whom you would probably label as “robber barons”) worked hand in glove with the government to squash competition, extract subsidies from taxpayers, fleece consumers, and do a variety of other things that are universally condemned by libertarians. Just because a policy may be “pro-business” does not make it “libertarian.” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2008, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-was-is-the-most-finanically-libertarian-government/442563/9 "2008-03-25T17:36:24Z")
Tariffs on imported goods were also high for much of that period of American history, to “protect” domestic manufacturers, which is not exactly a libertarian approach to the economy.