Index of economic freedom: Unrealized pedagogical opportunities.

Although the Index of Economic Freedom appears in many economic textbooks, their coverage of the index misses opportunities to teach statistical and policy-related concepts important for the principles course. The standard textbook presentation passes up an opportunity to examine the statistical issues of weighting in composite index numbers and correlation versus causation. In addition, textbook presentations fail to examine the assumptions made in the indexes about key economic concepts. These include inflation rate targets, appropriate government spending levels, tax rates, labor standards, financial regulation, monetary policy, property rights, government regulation, and even the meaning of economic freedom. This study explores how examining economic freedom index assumptions can help students understand key economic policy debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]