The Pope vs. the IRS

The Pope vs. the IRS

When I write about America’s awful tax code, I generally focus on anti-growth policies such as high tax rates, the bias against saving and investment, and nightmarish and costly complexity. But there’s actually a fourth problem of “worldwide taxation”...
What Is “Cherry Picking”?

What Is “Cherry Picking”?

In hopes of convincing people to be libertarian, most of my columns are based on data. I’ve noticed, however, that evidence is only persuasive if readers trust that numbers are being presented honestly. This is a challenge because everyone seems to think that the...
The IRS Magic-Money Tree Bears Little Fruit

Addressing IRS Dysfunction

I’m not a big fan of the Internal Revenue Service, but our awful (and anti-growth) tax system is mostly the fault of politicians. Ever since that dark day in 1913 when the income tax was enacted, presidents and members of...
Trump’s Tax Returns and the Flat Tax

Trump’s Tax Returns and the Flat Tax

I applauded when Joe Biden used clever tax strategies to reduce his (apparently unpatriotic) tax bill to the IRS. I also applauded when Bill and Hillary Clinton engaged in clever tax avoidance, as well as John Kerry and Gov....