Ah, freedom. What is more important? Freedom is the wind blowing through your hair, a vague feeling, a virtue. And t's something that can be rigorously quantified by a group of economists. Naturally. According to the latest research from the Fraser Institute, a Canadian libertarian think tank, the UK is the ninth most “free” country in the world. This is the highest ranking we've achieved in the study since 2019, but well below our peak in the early 2000s. So how do they measure these? Calling it the “freest countries” index is somewhat misleading. The study focuses specifically on economic freedoms such as restrictions on international trade and the size of government. Despite the overall improvement compared to the previous survey, which ranked the UK 16th, the country scored lower in the "size of government" and "regulation" categories, which caused confusion. is that the size of government has increased. Alexander Hammond, a researcher at the institute, calls this growth “very alarming” – although this is of course a matter of political opinion. After all, some people do want bigger, more active government, even though Hammond clearly doesn't want that. Singapore was honored as the country with the freest economy in the world this year, surpassing the former leader of Hong Kong. Other countries in the top 5 include Switzerland, New Zealand and the land of the free, the United States. Some may be surprised by the UK's stance, as many are still struggling, without government help, with a cost of living crisis and unprecedented levels of inflation. But hey, at least we can find comfort in the fact that we are more financially "free" than average, according to the original arbiters of the concept: random man.