The top 50 economies are a very diverse group. They are not the top 50 scores for economic freedom. They range from Hong Kong #1 to Venezuela #176. They are not the top 50 countries for population. They range from China #1 to Qatar #140. The top 50 economies are the top 50 countries for gross domestic product in terms of purchasing power parity. They range from China #1 $1,368 Billion to Czech Republic #50 $314.6 Billion.
GDP per capita based on purchasing power parity (PPP). PPP GDP is gross domestic product converted to international dollars using purchasing power parity rates. An international dollar has the same purchasing power over GDP as the U.S. dollar has in the United States. GDP at purchaser’s prices is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products.
The top 50 economies range from Qatar $143,427 to Bangladesh $3,373 with respect to GDP per capita. The United States is ranked 7th.
The top 50 economies range from China $1.368 Billion to Czech Republic $314.6 Billion with respect to GDP PPP in Billions. The United States is ranked 2nd.
| Country Name | GDP (Billions, PPP) | GDP per Capita (PPP) | Designation |
| Qatar | $320.5 | $143,427 | Mostly Free |
| Singapore | $452.7 | $82,762 | Free |
| Norway | $345.2 | $66,937 | Mostly Free |
| United Arab Emirates | $599.8 | $64,479 | Mostly Free |
| Switzerland | $472.8 | $58,087 | Free |
| Hong Kong SAR | $397.5 | $54,722 | Free |
| United States | $17,418.9 | $54,597 | Mostly Free |
| Saudi Arabia | $1,605.7 | $52,183 | Moderately Free |
| Netherlands | $798.6 | $47,355 | Mostly Free |
| Australia | $1,095.4 | $46,433 | Free |
| Austria | $395.5 | $46,420 | Mostly Free |
| Sweden | $448.2 | $45,986 | Mostly Free |
| Germany | $3,721.6 | $45,888 | Mostly Free |
| Taiwan | $1,074.5 | $45,854 | Mostly Free |
| Canada | $1,591.6 | $44,843 | Mostly Free |
| Belgium | $481.5 | $42,973 | Moderately Free |
| France | $2,580.8 | $40,375 | Moderately Free |
| United Kingdom | $2,548.9 | $39,511 | Mostly Free |
| Japan | $4,750.8 | $37,390 | Mostly Free |
| Italy | $2,127.7 | $35,486 | Moderately Free |
| South Korea | $1,778.8 | $35,277 | Mostly Free |
| Spain | $1,566.4 | $33,711 | Moderately Free |
| Czech Republic | $314.6 | $29,925 | Mostly Free |
| Poland | $954.5 | $25,105 | Moderately Free |
| Russia | $3,564.5 | $24,805 | Mostly Unfree |
| Malaysia | $746.1 | $24,654 | Mostly Free |
| Kazakhstan | $418.5 | $24,020 | Moderately Free |
| Chile | $409.3 | $22,971 | Mostly Free |
| Argentina | $947.6 | $22,582 | Repressed |
| Romania | $392.8 | $19,712 | Moderately Free |
| Turkey | $1,508.1 | $19,610 | Moderately Free |
| Mexico | $2,140.6 | $17,881 | Moderately Free |
| Venezuela | $538.9 | $17,695 | Repressed |
| Iran | $1,334.3 | $17,114 | Repressed |
| Brazil | $3,263.8 | $16,096 | Mostly Unfree |
| Thailand | $985.5 | $14,354 | Moderately Free |
| Algeria | $551.8 | $14,259 | Mostly Unfree |
| Colombia | $640.1 | $13,430 | Mostly Free |
| South Africa | $704.5 | $13,046 | Moderately Free |
| China | $17,617.3 | $12,880 | Mostly Unfree |
| Peru | $371.3 | $11,817 | Moderately Free |
| Egypt | $943.1 | $10,877 | Mostly Unfree |
| Indonesia | $2,676.1 | $10,641 | Mostly Unfree |
| Ukraine | $370.8 | $8,668 | Repressed |
| Philippines | $692.2 | $6,962 | Moderately Free |
| Nigeria | $1,049.1 | $6,031 | Mostly Unfree |
| India | $7,375.9 | $5,855 | Mostly Unfree |
| Vietnam | $510.7 | $5,635 | Mostly Unfree |
| Pakistan | $882.3 | $4,736 | Mostly Unfree |
| Bangladesh | $533.7 | $3,373 | Mostly Unfree |
Not all of the 50 are following the same strategy for their economy. For some that have not controlled government finances there are debt problems looming on the horizon that could do them in like the former soviet union. There are 30 of the 50 that are underperforming with respect to controlling annual deficit and total public debt listed in the following table. The United States is one of these 30.
| Country | Gov’t Spending | Monetary Freedom | Public Debt (% of GDP) | Designation |
| Venezuela | 56.7 | 33.8 | 45.6 | Repressed |
| Argentina | 51.3 | 44.0 | 48.6 | Repressed |
| Iran | 93.2 | 50.6 | 12.2 | Repressed |
| Brazil | 55.2 | 64.2 | 65.2 | Mostly Unfree |
| Egypt | 65.9 | 65.8 | 90.5 | Mostly Unfree |
| Ukraine | 30.6 | 66.9 | 71.2 | Repressed |
| Vietnam | 75.1 | 70.6 | 58.7 | Mostly Unfree |
| China | 74.3 | 70.6 | 41.1 | Mostly Unfree |
| Pakistan | 86.2 | 71.5 | 64.2 | Mostly Unfree |
| India | 78.1 | 72.8 | 65.0 | Mostly Unfree |
| Norway | 41.8 | 76.2 | 30.1 | Mostly Free |
| United Kingdom | 39.0 | 76.4 | 89.5 | Mostly Free |
| Canada | 50.4 | 76.9 | 86.5 | Mostly Free |
| United States | 54.7 | 77.0 | 104.8 | Mostly Free |
| Mexico | 76.4 | 77.4 | 50.1 | Moderately Free |
| France | 2.5 | 79.1 | 95.1 | Moderately Free |
| Japan | 46.2 | 81.2 | 246.4 | Mostly Free |
| Austria | 22.4 | 81.7 | 86.8 | Mostly Free |
| Singapore | 90.1 | 81.8 | 98.8 | Free |
| Taiwan | 88.7 | 83.2 | 37.6 | Mostly Free |
| Germany | 41.3 | 83.3 | 73.1 | Mostly Free |
| Netherlands | 34.4 | 83.4 | 68.3 | Mostly Free |
| Belgium | 11.0 | 84.0 | 105.6 | Moderately Free |
| Czech Republic | 47.3 | 84.1 | 41.6 | Mostly Free |
| Italy | 22.1 | 84.5 | 132.1 | Moderately Free |
| Spain | 41.1 | 84.7 | 97.7 | Moderately Free |
| Poland | 46.5 | 85.2 | 48.8 | Moderately Free |
| Australia | 62.0 | 85.2 | 34.3 | Free |
| Sweden | 14.9 | 87.1 | 41.5 | Mostly Free |
| Switzerland | 66.3 | 87.8 | 46.1 | Free |
The following table are the 20 who appear to have a handle on government financing. Some of these in this list may surprise you. The governments in police states could be toppled for not taking care of their security forces, but not for mishandling government financing.
| Country | Fiscal Freedom | Tax Burden % of GDP | Designation |
| Qatar | 99.7 | 5.2 | Mostly Free |
| Saudi Arabia | 99.7 | 4.3 | Moderately Free |
| United Arab Emirates | 95.0 | 22.4 | Mostly Free |
| Kazakhstan | 93.0 | 14.0 | Moderately Free |
| Hong Kong SAR | 92.6 | 15.7 | Free |
| Romania | 87.5 | 27.2 | Moderately Free |
| Nigeria | 85.1 | 3.1 | Mostly Unfree |
| Malaysia | 85.0 | 15.8 | Mostly Free |
| Indonesia | 83.4 | 11.8 | Mostly Unfree |
| Russia | 82.2 | 34.8 | Mostly Unfree |
| Thailand | 81.1 | 16.2 | Moderately Free |
| Algeria | 81.0 | 12.2 | Mostly Unfree |
| Colombia | 80.1 | 16.5 | Mostly Free |
| Philippines | 79.0 | 13.3 | Moderately Free |
| Peru | 78.5 | 18.6 | Moderately Free |
| Turkey | 75.2 | 29.3 | Moderately Free |
| Chile | 74.8 | 20.2 | Mostly Free |
| South Korea | 73.8 | 24.3 | Mostly Free |
| Bangladesh | 72.7 | 9.0 | Mostly Unfree |
| South Africa | 70.1 | 24.7 | Moderately Free |
The following images are graphs that show how sometimes two governments start off about the same, and then one tweaks their economic policy and rises while the other one drops.
In every year of George W. Bush’s second term the US was designated a free economy, and we have dropped from being the 6th best in the world to 11th best. In terms of GDP the US has dropped from first place to second place behind China.
The economic freedom rankings include low population city-states Hong Kong and Singapore, and they can always score higher than a country with a large population. However, there are countries with a large population who also have good freedom rankings and are financially sustainable.
Chile #7
United Arab Emirates #25
South Korea #27
Malaysia #29
Colombia #33
