The False Debate Over Socialism In The U.S.

In terms of economic policy, the U.S. is ranked roughly on par with Denmark and Sweden—countries Bernie Sanders has named as his socialist ideals.

- Sam Hill

A WOMAN IN MY FITNESS CLASS PROUDLY proclaimed last week that she was a socialist. Who knows why. But it did start a passionate debate about socialism vs. capitalism. Passionate, but a little confused. And there’s a good reason why: It’s a dumb argument.

During my business career, I worked in 26 countries. I learned how misleading the labels “socialism” and “capitalism” are. All modern economies are a mix of both, and the U.S. is about as socialist as everyone else.

For 25 years, the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Washington, has put out The Index of Economic Freedom. Every country in the world is ranked from 0 to 100. An economy completely free of government intervention, essentially the “least socialist,” would score 100. According to the 2019 Index, the most socialist country in the world is North Korea, whose ranking of 5.9 is 20 points below the next country on the list. But the least socialist, or free-est, a country in the world isn’t the United States. Not even close.

The U.S. is way down the list at twelfth, with a score of 77. That’s the same score as The Netherlands. It’s just a fraction above Denmark, and less than two points above Sweden, countries that Bernie Sanders has named as his socialist ideals.

The closeness of those scores would probably surprise progressives—and also surprise conservatives, who fear to end up like Sweden only slightly less than finding themselves in an elevator with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.