I've been teaching the two year old a bit about economics. When I ask him, "Ira, how can we tell that voluntary trade is Pareto-improving", he now knows to say "General axiom of revealed preference!" It's very cute. Next job is to teach him what it means.
The latest Heritage survey puts New Zealand again above the US on economic freedom. If we care about a bundle of freedoms rather than just economic freedom, I think NZ does better than the folks above it on the Heritage list: Australia (widespread internet censorship, thuggish police), Singapore (heavy restrictions on personal liberties), and Hong Kong (much better than Singapore?).
How much libertarianism is just cheap talk? Or, rather, what price do libertarians put on liberty? I'd outlined some of NZ's advantages on EconLog four years ago. Since then, the top marginal tax rate has dropped by 6 percentage points, sales taxes have increased by two and a half points, and some of the nanny state stuff has gotten a bit worse (though Happy Meals remain happy). Most worryingly, we've recently implemented an asset forfeiture regime that kicks back seized funds to the police; this will start to bite in a decade or so. We've ranked at or above US levels of economic freedom since Heritage started keeping score. And I'm rather sure we're still better on civil liberties. If you want to have your junk mauled by someone in uniform, you'd have to pay for it in one of our numerous legal brothels; you don't get it for free at the airport.
By the general axiom of revealed preference, the increment of liberty isn't worth the loss of income (and inconvenience of moving and living abroad) for the vast majority of libertarians.
"I Chose Liberty" is Walter Block's collection of intellectual autobiographies of a bunch of libertarians, the large majority of whom live in the US and many of whom live in states like New York and California which rank in the bottom quintile of freedom.
I wonder how many will move to Seasteads.
Update: Peter Thiel, always on the vanguard, is betting on New Zealand.
