List/Grid

States Subscribe to States

Illinois Leftist Does a Facepalm, Confirming that Higher Taxes Enable Higher Spending While Trying to Make the Opposite Point

Illinois Leftist Does a Facepalm, Confirming that Higher Taxes Enable Higher Spending While Trying to Make the Opposite Point

Two days ago, I explained that tax increases are bad policy. More specifically, I warned that giving more money to government exacerbates fiscal problems because politicians respond to the expectation… Read more »

Illinois Politicians Meet the Challenge in the U.S. vs. U.K. Government Stupidity Contest

Illinois Politicians Meet the Challenge in the U.S. vs. U.K. Government Stupidity Contest

When I read the story from England about needing photo ID to buy teaspoons, I thought British bureaucrats built an insurmountable lead in the U.S. vs. U.K. contest for stupidest… Read more »

Bringing Science to Government

Bringing Science to Government

Accusing a political opponent of being anti-science has become a standard tactic of both parties in recent years. These accusations are usually dishonest, as what the accuser typically means is… Read more »

D.C. Needs to Junk Jock Tax Plan

D.C. Needs to Junk Jock Tax Plan

The Washington Times recently reported that the D.C. Council’s plan to introduce a “jock tax” will need an unlikely vote from Capitol Hill to succeed. Hopefully for D.C. sports fans… Read more »

Amazon Abandoning Greedy States with Online Retail Taxes

Amazon Abandoning Greedy States with Online Retail Taxes

In continued news of people responding to tax competition, online retail giant Amazon.com Inc. has announced it is scrapping deals in Arkansas and Connecticut due to new legislation requiring new… Read more »

Bill Cosby Cites High Taxes As Reason For Not Performing In Canada

Bill Cosby Cites High Taxes As Reason For Not Performing In Canada

Bill Cosby, actor and comedian, cited the comparatively high taxes in Canada as to why he has no tour dates there anytime soon. Asked by a fan on his Twitter… Read more »

Texas, California, and the Tale of the Coyote

Texas, California, and the Tale of the Coyote

I’ve already had a couple of blog posts commenting on how Texas is kicking California’s you-know-what. Being a fiscal policy person, I always point to California’s punitive state income tax… Read more »

Two More Reasons to Hate Taxes

Two More Reasons to Hate Taxes

When all you have is a hammer, everything begins to look like a nail. That old saying makes a lot of sense. As a tax economist, I’m sometimes guilty of… Read more »

Noncompliance Leads to a Victory for Liberty

Noncompliance Leads to a Victory for Liberty

I’m glad I read Instapundit, because my day has been made brighter by the news that Arizona’s statists have given up on their money-grubbing speed camera program. Here’s a cheerful… Read more »

One Fish, Two Fish, High Tax, Low Tax

One Fish, Two Fish, High Tax, Low Tax

With apologies to Dr. Seuss, maybe that will be the name of a future book I’ll write about the anti-competitive impact of high tax rates. And one of my chapters… Read more »