As former Texas Longhorn coach Darrell Royal liked to say, when faced with a challenging bowl game, you need to 'dance with the one who brung you' to the party. Mr. Royal meant that even when faced with daunting new challenges, one would be well advised not to abandon a winning formula that had already brought success. That is good advice as the United States and other economies face the daunting task of restoring economic growth.

The 'party' in this case is the six decades of increasing prosperity that the world has enjoyed since the end of World War II. U.S. Gross Domestic Product was about $1.6 trillion in 1947 (valued in 2000 dollars), a little over $11,000 for every man, woman and child. In 2007, it was $11.5 trillion, or about $38,000 per capita. That's almost a doubling of average incomes each generation, made possible by the free market's efficiency in allocating capital and labor.

Capitalism, the U.S. dance partner during this period of unprecedented economic growth, is, by the accounts of political leftists, no longer the smartest looking companion on the dance floor. They like the looks of other systems like socialism much better. Yet despite recent setbacks, they would be hard pressed to deny that capitalism steps out more nimbly than its rivals, and keeps up with the music far more surely.

For 15 years, The Wall Street Journal and The Heritage Foundation have been measuring countries' commitment to free market capitalism in the Index of Economic Freedom. The 2009 Index, published this week, provides strong evidence that the countries that maintain the freest economies do the best job of promoting prosperity for all citizens.

The positive correlation between economic freedom and national income is confirmed yet again by this year's data. The freest countries enjoy per capita incomes over 10 times higher than those in countries ranked as 'repressed.' This year, for the first time, the Index also correlates economic freedom with important societal values like poverty reduction, human development, political freedom, and environmental protection. The linkages are robust, with economically freer countries performing significantly better on every indicator of well-being.

Those tempted to abandon the free market and capitalism in the current crisis need to look carefully at the record of countries moving down that path. In 2009, it is Zimbabwe that has lost the most economic freedom, dropping 6.7 points on the Index's 0-100 scale and falling to next-to-last place. Deficit spending, the expropriation of land and resources and government support of favored enterprises have destroyed the economy; hyperinflation and corruption have devastated the nation. Venezuela recorded the second largest drop in the Index, losing 4.8 points as a result of price controls, currency devaluations, nationalizations and the corruption that characterize Hugo Chavez's brand of Bolivarian socialism.

Hong Kong and Singapore are once again the freest countries in the world, followed in the rankings by Australia, Ireland and New Zealand. The U.S. slipped one spot to sixth place this year because of increases in both tax revenue and government spending as a percentage of GDP.

The biggest success stories in the Index of Economic Freedom continue to be the countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Lithuania and Romania have all gained at least 20 points of economic freedom over the life of the Index. Per capita GDP in these countries has grown at an average annual rate of 7.4% over the past decade.

In a special chapter in this year's Index, the Journal's Stephen Moore chronicles the critical role that tax cuts, particularly cuts in corporate taxes, have played in economic growth in Eastern European countries and others like Ireland. The citizens of those countries lived for decades with state-directed economic planning and regulation, which many now advocate for the U.S. and other advanced economies. They remember the clumsiness of socialism and the government missteps that fostered economic disaster. To switch dance partners now that they have adapted to the quick step of capitalism and are enjoying its many benefits would be a tragic mistake.

It would be ironic indeed if the world's advanced economies, in seeking to address current woes, abandoned the system that has brought them and others around the world the amazing levels of prosperity experienced over the last half century. The Index of Economic Freedom provides a record of that progress. It charts the path to economic advancement and proves that the best way forward is to hang onto our partner and step to the music of the market.

正如前得克萨斯大学橄榄球队教练达雷尔•罗伊(Darrell Royal)常说的，当面对一场极富挑战性的比赛时，你需要“和把自己带到舞会上的人共舞”。 罗伊的意思是，即便是面临艰巨的新挑战，一个人最好也别丢掉曾让他取得成功的“制胜法则”。在眼下美国和其他经济体面临恢复经济增长的艰巨任务时，这是一个不错的忠告。

这里的“舞会”就是二战结束以来全世界经历的长达60年之久的不断繁荣。1947年美国国内生产总值(GDP)约为1.6万亿美元（以2000年美元价值计算），人均GDP略高于1.1万美元。2007年的GDP为11.5万亿美元，人均约3.8万美元。相当于每过一代，平均收入增长一倍。这要归功于自由市场在资本和劳动力配置上的高效率。

按照政治左翼人士的说法，资本主义──也就是美国在这个前所未有的经济增长期的舞伴──不再是舞池里看起来最聪明的舞伴。他们更喜欢其他体系的模样，比如社会主义。不过，尽管最近遭受了挫折，这些人仍难以否认资本主义比对手的舞步更轻盈，与音乐更合拍。

十五年来，《华尔街日报》和美国传统基金会(The Heritage Foundation)一直在用“经济自由度指数”(Index of Economic Freedom)衡量各国致力于自由市场资本主义的程度。于本周公布的2009年指数提供了强有力的证据，证明经济保持最大自由度的国家在提升全民富足上的表现也最出色。

今年的数据再次证实了经济自由和国民收入之间正相关的关系。在经济最自由的国家，人均收入比列为“受压制”一级的国家高出10倍以上。今年，这一指数还首次将经济自由度与重要的社会价值（包括脱贫、人类发展、政治自由和环境保护）联系起来，其相关性非常高，经济自由的国家在各项民生指标上明显更好。

对于那些试图在眼下这场危机中摒弃自由市场和资本主义的人，他们需要好好看看曾经这么做的国家的现状。2009年，津巴布韦成为经济自由度下滑最严重的国家，降了6.7点（指数范围在0-100点），跌至倒数第二位。寅吃卯粮、侵占土地和资源、政府扶持个别企业等因素损害了经济；极度通货膨胀和腐败问题令该国遭受了毁灭性的打击。委内瑞拉的经济自由度下滑幅度位居第二，跌了4.8点，原因是价格控制、货币贬值、国有化和腐败问题──这些都是乌戈•查韦斯(Hugo Chavez)式玻利维亚共产主义的特征。

香港和新加坡再次成为世界上经济最自由的地区或国家，澳大利亚、爱尔兰和新西兰位列其后。今年美国下滑一个名次，降至第六位，原因是税收和政府支出占GDP的比重双双上升。

经济自由度指数中上升最明显的仍是东欧和前苏联国家。阿塞拜疆、亚美尼亚、格鲁吉亚、波黑、摩尔多瓦、立陶宛和罗马尼亚的经济自由度都比指数创立之初增长了至少20点。过去10年来，这些国家的人均GDP年均增长率为7.4%。

在今年的一个特别章节中，《华尔街日报》的斯蒂芬•摩尔(Stephen Moore)按年份列出了减税（特别是企业税的削减）对东欧国家以及爱尔兰等国的经济增长中所起的重要作用。这些国家的公民几十年来都生活在国家计划经济体制之下（现在很多人呼吁美国和其他发达经济体也采用计划经济）。他们仍记得社会主义的“笨手笨脚”和政府“踩错舞步”，正是这些造成了国家经济上的灾难。如今他们已经适应了资本主义的快舞，并且在享受由此带来的很多好处，此时更换“舞伴”将是个悲剧性的错误。

如果为了应对眼下的困境，世界上的发达经济体放弃曾经在过去半个世纪让它们和世界其他国家享受了极大繁荣的体系，这的确是莫大的讽刺。经济自由度指数提供了这一进程的记录。它记载了经济发展的进程，并证明最好的方法是靠着我们原来的舞伴，跟着市场的节奏继续舞动。