Examples of freedom working

Or, perhaps that should read "Examples of freer situations working better than less free situations" - though I accept that that is a bit clumsy.

Whatever the case may be it's actually easier said than done. It is not possible to create true scientific comparisons in the political and economic spheres. There's always something (geography, demographics, external factors) to skew the comparison.

So, we have to settle for close (though not exact) comparisons. The closest I can think of are: the West v the Soviet Bloc; South Korea v North Korea; Taiwan v China. I hope those are fairly uncontroversial but then again there is always the black-is-white tendency to contend with.

Other examples closer to home? Well, there's BT. Older readers will remember all too well how long it used to take to get a phone installed in the days of nationalised monopoly. Nowadays it is possible to go into a store and walk away with a fully working phone 20 minutes later.

"Oh, but that is all to do with technology." Well, that may be true. But then again similar technological advances have appeared in the health and education sectors.

"Oh, but they were underfunded." Well, maybe. But if that is the case isn't that just another example of state failure?