Research: Belarusians Are One of the Most Pro-market Nations in Europe

Our people are very supportive of the idea of a competitive economy led by the private sector.

Belarus is ranked 15th out of 74 countries in the Global Index of Economic Mentality (GIEM), thinktanks.by writes.

The high place of Belarus in the Global Index of Economic Thinking does not mean at all world recognition of the Belarusian economic thought, which has created a unique economic model. It's quite the opposite. This rating demonstrates that the Belarusian market socialism does not quite correspond to society's approaches prevailing.

The Global Index of Economic Mind (GIEM) is an international study that measures people's support for economic freedom. It was hosted by the Atlas Network.

"Where GIEM scores are high, people do not expect the government to play an important role in the management or regulation of economic activity or the redistribution of income. The population of these countries largely supports the institutional framework in which priority is given to private initiative, free competition, and personal responsibility," the study explains.

In each country included in the index, about 1,500 respondents were interviewed.

As a result, Belarus is on the 15th line, between Slovenia and Great Britain. This happened because, in the course of the poll, Belarusians very actively supported the idea of a competitive economy led by the private sector.

It is curious that, according to the study, the economic thinking of Belarusians differs significantly from the thinking of Russians. In any case, Russia ranks 69th in the index.

The first three places in the GIEM went to New Zealand, the Czech Republic, and Sweden.

At the bottom of the rating are Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Bosnia.

The compilers of the index drew attention to the fact that the economic thinking of the respondents was strongly influenced by their age. If they were to create the GIEM 2020 index, based on the approaches of people under 40, that is, those who went to schools mostly outside the USSR and the Warsaw Bloc, then only Eastern European countries would make the Top 5 ranking:

1. the Czech Republic,

2. Romania,

3. Estonia,

4. Georgia,

5. Poland.

We can assume that next in the index of economic thinking would be Belarus