by Dan Mitchell | Dec 24, 2020 | Blogs, Economics, Taxation
I don’t like higher taxes, whether looking at levies on income, capital gains, payroll, death, or consumption. But if asked to identify the worst way of hiking taxes, the wealth tax might lead the list because of the economic damage caused per dollar collected. If you...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 23, 2020 | Blogs, Economics
Ethical people, regardless of ideology, should be motivated by an empathetic desire to help the poor rather than a spiteful thirst to punish the rich. That was the message in Part I and Part II of this series. That’s also today’s message, and we’ll start with this...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 22, 2020 | Blogs, Economics
I began yesterday’s column with a short clip of me explaining why we should focus on reducing poverty, not reducing inequality. Here’s a more thorough discussion of the same topic. The video makes three central points, all of which are very sound. The economy is not a...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 21, 2020 | Blogs, Economics
I have a couple of cameos in a new left-leaning documentary film, Race to the Bottom. I shared a clip two day ago with my views on corporate tax and the Laffer Curve. Today, here’s what I said about the left’s mistaken views on inequality. The fundamental problem is...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 20, 2020 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Regulations
Regulatory policy is one of the five ingredients in the recipe for growth and prosperity. Ideally, there should be a minimal amount of red tape, and it should be governed by sensible cost-benefit analysis (i.e., so it deals with genuine externalities such as...
