Events

All Content

Issue Brief

Aug 20, 2025

Why the rule of law is the key to prosperity: Lessons from thirty years of data 

By Annie (Yu-Lin) Lee, Joseph Lemoine

Thirty years of global data point to one conclusion: the rule of law is the most important driver of prosperity. Strong legal systems foster trust, investment, and stability. Where laws are predictable and applied equally, societies thrive; where they weaken, reforms falter and prosperity stalls.

Africa Freedom and Prosperity

Report

Jun 23, 2025

2025 Freedom and Prosperity Indexes: How political freedom drives growth

By Ignacio Campomanes, Nina Dannaoui-Johnson, Annie (Yu-Lin) Lee, Joseph Lemoine

As the Freedom and Prosperity Indexes show political freedom declining worldwide for the twelfth straight year, new data analysis shows its importance for lasting prosperity: Though authoritarians promise economic rewards, democratizing countries gain an 8.8 percent GDP per capita boost over twenty years than their autocratic peers. With democracy on the ropes, what else can the Indexes tell us?

China Civil Society

Freedom and Prosperity Around the World

Feb 28, 2025

Building balanced institutions for prosperity

By Ignacio Campomanes, Annie (Yu-Lin) Lee, Joseph Lemoine

This overview chapter explores the institutional evolution of each country and contextualizes these insights within the broader economic and political science literature on institutions and development. As global instability rose in 2024, longstanding governance challenges that had been intensifying over the past decade became increasingly evident.

Corruption Economy & Business

Joseph Lemoine is the senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Freedom and Prosperity Center, where he leads research and programs to advance evidence-based institutional and economic reforms around the world. Prior to joining the Atlantic Council, he served as a private sector specialist at the World Bank.

A dual-trained lawyer with over a decade of experience at the intersection of law, policy, and international development, Lemoine specializes in business climate reform, regulatory governance, cross-border investment, and rule of law initiatives. He has advised governments, development finance institutions, and global investors on legal and policy frameworks, particularly across Africa and the Middle East.

Lemoine currently serves as vice-chair for programs of the International Investment and Development Committee of the American Bar Association. He holds degrees from Georgetown University Law Center, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, and Sciences Po Grenoble.