Marketplace · Tuesday, October 27, 2026
The Democracy and Capitalism Lab at the University of Virginia introduced the Global Capitalism Index, which measures elements like property rights and market competitiveness. Lab director Scott Miller noted that Switzerland ranked number one, while warning that U.S. rankings could slide due to tariff debates and free-flow of goods constraints.
“we do have one kind of element of capitalism that is the free flow of goods and capital. But I would bet a good amount of money that the U.S. is going to slide on that one considerably in next year's version or the year after.”
“what we found unequivocally is that if your democracy declines, your capitalism will decline as well.”