5. The Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom is not the only ranking that assesses countries in terms of successful economic policies. For example, the World Economic Forum (WEF; www.weforum.org) publishes an annual Global Competitiveness Report; in the 2010–2011 report, the United States ranks fourth, according to the WEF’s metrics. By contrast, Sweden is in second place. According to the Index of Economic Freedom’s rankings, the United States and Sweden are in 9th and 22nd place, respectively.

Why are the rankings so different? What criteria does each index consider?