Hong Kong and Venezuela (graphic not available)Hong Kong has built its economic strength from an impoverished economic infrastructure since the 1950s, at the same time as economic health of Venezuela has worsened despite its relatively strong economic structure. Figure 1 shows that in 1950 Hong Kong's per capita income was about half that of Venezuela. During that period, Hong Kong experienced enormous economic and social pressure due to the arrival of immigrants from China and the lack of natural resources to support growth. Meanwhile, Venezuela was rich in resources and had a relatively stable population. Comparisons in the 1990s showed that Venezuela's per capita income was much lower than in 1950 in real terms, while Hong Kong's was considerably higher http://www.hku.hk/hkcer/articles/v57/ walker While Venezuela's economic decline can be attributed to its high population negatively impacting economic growth, Hong Kong can also be shown to have experienced tremendous population growth in recent decades (Figure 2). Additionally, Hong Kong lacked the natural resources to support population growth and resorted to importing all of its basic needs to support the economy. The variation in economic performance can be attributed to the different economic freedom between the two countries. Figure 3 shows that during the 1970s and 1990s, Hong Kong continued to achieve higher levels of economic freedom than Venezuela. More importantly, economic freedom in Venezuela has deteriorated during the same period. In 1997, Hong Kong enjoyed more than 50 percent more economic freedom than Venezuela (Figure 4). However, such comparisons are not uncommon when considering global economies as stories of economic asymmetries abound around the world. http://www.hku.hk/hkcer/articles/v57/walker. Although some economists believe that economic freedom cannot be measured, physicists Enrico Fermi proposed various comparisons. What Fermi emphasizes is that when we make a comparison, we make measurements. While the concept of economic freedom remains difficult to measure, ongoing efforts are made to accurately evaluate comparisons by refining measurement methodology. http://www.federalreserve.gov/fomc/The measure of economic freedom consists of three main elements: • The right to engage in voluntary acts of trade and exchange, without interference from the government or others through force or fraud; • The ability to access an impartial justice system or enforcement of property rights; • The right of citizens to retain most of the income they earn. An Index of Economic Freedom is designed to identify various factors that make a country economically free, using a compendium of 23 freedom factors based on objective data or independent surveys. This is a ranking of 123 countries based on their degree of freedom.