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Learn how MCC uses third-party indicators to determine which countries should be eligible for MCC assistance.

Abstract: The 2012 rankings of trade freedom around the world indicate that trade freedom in the world has remained constant or regressed slightly since 2011. The lack of improvement is regrettable because countries with the most trade freedom have the highest per capita gross domestic product, the lowest incidence of hunger, and the cleanest environments. The U.S.

This Special Report describes which trade policies are helpful, which are harmful, and what the U.S. Congress can do now to put the U.S. back on a path to free trade leadership.

The 2010 rankings of trade freedom in countries around the world, developed by The Heritage Foundation as part of its annual Index of Economic Freedom, show many countries moving ahead to lower tariffsand cut other barriers to trade. Other countries, however, arestanding still or moving backward in response to protectionistpolitical pressures and are likely to find themselves fallingbehind, with lower growth rates and stagnating economies.

Abstract: The Heritage Foundation began ranking trade freedom around the world in 1995. The newest rankings (to appear in the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom) show global trade freedom as high as it has ever been. That is encouraging: Countries with higher levels of trade freedom have higher levels of economic prosperity. Still, the latest average score showed only a slight improvement, and far too many people continue to live in poverty because their political leaders have blocked attempts at opening paths to freer trade.