by Dan Mitchell | May 14, 2022 | Blogs, Economics, Trade
When the Commerce Department announced in February that the United States had a record trade deficit for 2021, I shared this video to help make the point that those trade numbers were that year’s “least important economic news.” The main thing to understand is that a...
by Dan Mitchell | May 13, 2022 | Big Government, Blogs, Taxation, VAT
As part of my (reality-based) opposition to a value-added tax, I testified to the Ways & Means Committee back in 2011. My primary argument against the VAT is that it would enable a bigger burden of government spending. I frequently share this chart, for...
by Dan Mitchell | May 12, 2022 | Blogs, Tax Competition, Taxation
There are many reasons to admire Switzerland. The nation’s very effective spending cap.The nation’s libertarian-leaning governance.The nation’s system of private pensions.The nation’s genuine decentralization.The...
by Dan Mitchell | May 11, 2022 | Blogs, States
Federalism is very desirable because it allows different parts of the country to make different decisions, and this helps to teach us about what works. And what doesn’t. It also means Americans can “vote with their feet” by migrating across local...
by Dan Mitchell | May 10, 2022 | Blogs, Free Market
Even though foreign aid is not an effective way of promoting prosperity, Ukraine’s government almost surely will be showered with money when the war is over. To make these handouts helpful rather than harmful, aid should be conditional. These remarks are from the...
