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Abstract
This paper is the first attempt to produce an economic freedom index for local economies
in the U.S. It provides a more comprehensive measure of the restrictions government
places upon economic freedom compared to simple fiscal measures like total government
spending or revenue. That makes it a valuable tool for a wide variety of researchers seeking
to investigate the impact of government upon society, including regional economists and researchers
in state and local public finance. The two economic freedom indices of nations have
stimulated a large body of such research. There are several similar indices that provide the
same tool for those examining state governments. Like the other two sets of indices, higher
levels of local economic freedom are found to be correlated with positive economic outcomes
such as higher per capita income and lower unemployment.