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Iowa's Free Enterprise Report: 2025 Edition

The Free Enterprise Report is a marquis report that provides an objective, non-partisan, fact-based analysis of the Iowa economic landscape and the state’s most pressing issues. The study is a year long undertaking and includes the CSI Economic Performance Index as well as a Free Enterprise Competitiveness Index across eight different policy areas.

Both indices provide an opportunity to look backwards and better understand where Iowa has been and what direction we are moving. We can better understand how we are performing relative to other states and we can equip policy makers, civic and business leaders with the best understanding of how our state is performing, where we are winning, where we are losing and how free enterprise principles can get us back on track.

 

Download the Full Report

Taxes & Fees
Keeping Local Tax Dollars Local

Iowa’s local governments held $2.5 billion in public funds with ISJIT and IPAIT

Energy & Our Environment
Iowa’s Renewable Advantage: Driving Jobs, Growth, and Property Tax Relief

In 2025, renewable energy supplied roughly 62% of Iowa’s electric grid.

Jobs & Our Economy
Inflation in the Midwest - January 2026

Valentine’s Day 2026 costs are expected to rise by 4.8% across the United States.

February 13, 2026 Andrzej Wieciorkowski
Education
Educate. Graduate. Leave. - The $96 Billion Price Tag of Iowa's Public University Brain Drain

Across Iowa’s three public universities, on average only half of all graduates remain in Iowa ten years after graduation