The constant flow of current world events provides us with signals to read if only we take the time and intention to pay attention to those lessons. The economic view provides a robust language for understanding the fundamental physical reality of scarcity and the various human beliefs and responses we adopt as we seek to address that scarcity. As Smith and Ricardo teach us, the subtle and important understanding lies in the space between what human desires dictate on a personal scale, in the short term; and what consequences will manifest themselves on a large scale, in the long term. In this article we examine the proxy effects of policies intended by governments to shape policies in the short run, compared to the inevitable effects that arise from these policies in the long run. Our primary tools are the Index of Economic Freedom calculated annually by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal and basic quality of life measures from the CIA World Factbook. Because the Heritage Index has received some criticism for being biased or tailored to one cause, we evaluate it by comparing it to other indices: the Fraser Institute, a libertarian organization based in Canada; The Ease of Doing Business index, created by the World Bank; and the Freedom in the World Index, from the liberal organization Freedom House, which focuses primarily on political rights and civil liberties. For our study section, we selected five countries that vary in economic freedom index: Hong Kong, United States, Italy, India and Haiti. For comparison purposes and to provide additional points to the graph, we have chosen five other countries equally spaced between the others (or, in the case of Burundi, between Haiti and the bottom of the ranking). The five intercom...... paper center ...... locations as a percentage of GDP: and Public Spending; measurement of public spending as a percentage of GDP. These factors have a very weak correlation, close to zero and in some cases slightly negative. We are forced to admit that conservative and libertarian arguments against the government's burdensome tax burden and unproductive investments show little empirical evidence, at least within this model. This does not exclude valid arguments on moral grounds, and it is possible that this index and the correlation with the proxies we have chosen are too obtuse a tool for measuring negative effects on taxation and public spending. Having established our premises, we now continue with specific examples of the economic effects on five selected countries. The attached graphs show the correlations between Economic Freedom and GDP per capita and life expectancy at birth.