The 2009 International Property Rights Index has been released (large pdf). Once again, Finland stands at the top (tax rates do not figure in). The substantial correlation between property rights and per capita income continues, and once again, the bottom of the list is made up of notorious economic basket cases including Chad, Angola, Burundi, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Venezuela appears third from the bottom, but manages to be poor rather than destitute (for now) because of its oil wealth. The study made no effort to score every nation; many of the poorest nations don’t appear (e.g., North Korea, Malawi).
Embarrassingly, the United States ranks only 15th in property rights, tied with the UK and one rank below Canada. The United States does well for intellectual property, and decently for physical property rights, but poorly (among the top tier) for legal and political environment. Legal and political environment is defined as judicial independence, rule of law, political stability and absence of violence, and control of corruption.
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