, April 18 -- The perennial debate persists: Does prosperity foster greater freedoms, or is it the other way around?

The Atlantic Council's ground-breaking research into the linkage between freedom and prosperity offers a compelling case for the latter. Freedom isn't merely a byproduct of prosperity; it's the very engine that propels it.

Their report on Bangladesh, being released today, provides some sobering insights. Let me start with the Atlantic Council's Freedom Index, which ranks Bangladesh 141st out of 164 countries, placing it in the "mostly unfree" category. Perhaps more troubling, since 2000, Bangladesh has fallen 25 places. Atlantic Council's index is different from other indexes; it is not just about elections. Instead, it m...