July 23, 2026 12:35PM # Free-Market Reforms Take Time to Pay Off By [Jeffrey Miron](https://www.cato.org/people/jeffrey-miron) --- SHARE Listen to this article Generated with [ ElevenLabs](https://elevenlabs.io/) AI technology. Loading the [Elevenlabs Text to Speech](https://elevenlabs.io/text-to-speech) AudioNative Player... A [recent analysis](https://www.cato.org/research-briefs-economic-policy/do-market-reforms-cause-growth) warns that evaluating the impact of free-market reforms too early can obscure their true effects. The study used > data from the Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom of the World index for 1950–2023 … \[and\] identified one reform episode in each of 30 countries by finding the shortest window over which its index score increased by two or more points. The evidence > suggest\[s\] near-zero effects or modest declines \[in GDP per capita\] in the first few years following a reform. However, approximately 3–5 years after a reform, growth effects turned positive and increased steadily over time. The timing varied somewhat by reform type: > Reforms related to trade and financial-sector liberalization tended to produce positive effects sooner … \[while\] reforms involving privatization or broader institutional restructuring had more gradual effects. All things considered, > market reforms can promote economic growth, but their benefits take time to materialize as capital and labor reallocate. … \[So while\] policymakers may face political and economic pressure in the immediate aftermath of reforms … the long-run gains from market liberalization can \[still\] be substantial. Welcome news for Javier Milei, who took office about two and a half years ago. *Cross-posted from* [*Substack*](https://jeffreymiron.substack.com/)*.* ##### Related Tags [Economics](https://www.cato.org/economics), [Trade Policy](https://www.cato.org/trade-policy) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).