FUNDAMENTALLY TRANSFORMED: United States Drops In Overall Freedom Ranking. “A new report on the freedom of countries around the world ranks the United States 20th, putting countries like Chile and the United Kingdom ahead of the U.S. Last year, the U.S. was ranked 17th, but a steady decline of economic freedom and ‘rule of law’ has dropped the level of freedom, according to the Cato Institute, Fraser Institute and the Swiss Liberales Institut, which created the study together.”