by Dan Mitchell | Oct 29, 2019 | Blogs, Economics, Free Market
In early September, I wrote about how capital and labor are both necessary to create prosperity. Economists sometimes explain this with lots of jargon, referring to capital and labor as “factors of production” and pointing out how they are “complementary.” In ordinary...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 2, 2019 | Blogs, Economics, Free Market
I’ve periodically explained that capital formation (more machines, technology, etc) is necessary if we want higher wages. Simply stated, workers get paid on the basis of what they produce and the most effective way of boosting productivity is to have more saving and...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 22, 2017 | Blogs, Economics
What’s the worst government statistic, based on whether it distracts from sound thinking and encourages bad policy? Well, I definitely think gross domestic income is a better measure than gross domestic product if we want insights on growth, so I’m not a big fan of...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 23, 2012 | Blogs, Capital Gains, Economics, Laffer Curve, Taxation
One of the principles of good tax policy and fundamental tax reform is that there should be no double taxation of income that is saved and invested. Such a policy promotes current consumption at the expense of future consumption, which is simply an econo-geek way of...
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 17, 2012 | Blogs, Economics, Tax Competition, Tax Havens, Taxation
I’ve written several times about a proposed IRS regulation that would force American banks to put foreign law above U.S. law. I’ve repeatedly warned that the scheme, which would force financial institutions to report the deposit interest they pay to foreigners, is bad...