couple of years ago, I shared a chart that powerfully demonstrated why Greece was in fiscal crisis. The chart, which showed the explosive growth of the government bureaucracy, also provided some indication of why reform would be so difficult. Once a majority of a country’s voting-age population is riding in the wagon of government dependency, […]
read more...I periodically post TV interviews and the second-most-watched segment – edged out only by my debate with Robert Reich on Keynesian economics – was when I discussed how President Obama’s statist policies are bad for young people. So there’s obviously some concern about the future of the country and what it means for today’s youth. […]
read more...It is reported that Henry Kissinger, commenting on the Iran-Iraq war, said something to the effect that, “Too bad both sides can’t lose.” I imagine lots of people felt the same way when two of the world’s worst murderers, Hitler and Stalin, went to war in 1941. I have the same attitude about the fiscal […]
read more...What’s the most noxious example of hypocrisy from the political class? Is it left wingers from Obama’s cabinet utilizing tax havens while supporting higher taxes for the rest of us peasants? Or how about politicians who voted for Obamacare and are now trying to exempt themselves and their staff from the law? The limousine liberals […]
read more...Back in 2010, I posted a “word cloud” from a Gallup poll, which cited people’s reactions when asked to describe the federal government. Common responses included “incompetent” and “too big,” as well as “corrupt” and “confused.” Then, quoting from a very funny Mark Steyn column, I explained last year that there is an inverse relationship […]
read more...I want a smaller burden of government spending, so you can only imagine how frustrating it is for me to observe the fight in Europe. On one side of the debate you have pro-spenders, who call themselves “growth” advocates, but are really just Keynesians. On the other side of the debate, you have pro-taxers, who […]
read more...I don’t like giving international bureaucrats tax-free salaries. And it really galls me when they use their privileged positions to promote statism. So you can understand why I’m not a big fan of the International Monetary Fund. Whether we’re talking more spending, more taxes, more bailouts, or more centralization and harmonization, it seems that the […]
read more...I joked back in 2010 that Barack Obama had a very simple flat tax proposal. But as you can see, sometimes simple isn’t the same as good. Well, satire too often becomes reality in a world of greedy and corrupt politicians who think class-warfare is an acceptable guide to tax policy. I say this because […]
read more...I was very pleased to report the other day that the people of France overwhelmingly favor spending cuts, even when they were asked a biased question that presupposed that Keynesian-style spending increases would “stimulate” the economy. Now I have some polling data about British voters, though I confess I’m not sure whether to be pleased […]
read more...I’m in Europe as part of a six-nation speaking tour, participating in the Free Market Road Show. My first speech was yesterday in Greece, which is infamous for a government that is insanely wasteful, even to the point of subsidizing pedophiles and requiring stool samples from folks applying to set up online companies. But I […]
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