Mercatus Institute Finds that New York Is the Least-Free State

Dan Elmendorf of Redeemer Broadcasting sent me this video from the Mercatus Institute.  Prof. Will Ruger of Texas State University, San Marcos and Prof. Jason Sorens of SUNY Buffalo used a detailed procedure to rank the 50 states as to their degrees of freedom.  The lowest is New York and the highest are New Hampshire and South Dakota.  The video below provides some additional information about the study. 

There is an interesting parallel.  Recall the television miniseries, John Adams. It's fun to re-watch it on Independence Day (see below).   According to its account of the Continental Congress's signing of the Delcaration of Independence 236 years ago, New York was the only state to abstain on the initial vote, while the first state to vote for it was New Hampshire.  Let us also recall New York's contribution to national politics.  Alexander Hamilton, the inventor of big government, lived in New York City for most of his life.  Theodore Roosevelt, the inventor of Progressivism, lived and worked in New York for most of his life. The inventor of the New Deal, Franklin Roosevelt, also came from the Hudson Valley.

In my lifetime the State of New York has been in contnual decline. I live here for family reasons.