by Dan Mitchell | Oct 6, 2020 | Blogs, Taxation
On election day, most people focus on the big-ticket partisan battles, such as this year’s contest between Trump and Biden. Let’s not forget, though, that there are sometimes very important referendum battles at the state (or even local) level. In 2019, I was very...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 5, 2020 | Blogs, Economics, Free Market
While I generally don’t think recycling is economically sensible, I am going to reuse this 2013 BBC interview because it’s time (again) to criticize the economic illiteracy of Pope Francis. As I’ve previously explained, it’s good to care for the less fortunate....
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 4, 2020 | Blogs, Economics, Supply Side, Tax Competition, Taxation
Yesterday’s column featured some of Milton Friedman’s wisdom from 50 years ago on how a high level of societal capital (work ethic, spirit of self-reliance, etc) is needed if we want to limit government. Today, let’s look at what he said back then about that era’s...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 3, 2020 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
I identified four heroes from the “Battle of Ideas” video I shared in late August – Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, Ronald Reagan, and Margaret Thatcher. Here’s one of those heroes, Milton Friedman, explaining what’s needed to control big government. For all intents...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 2, 2020 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Regulations
When I write about regulation, I mostly focus on cost-benefit analysis. Simply stated, red tape makes it more expensive for people and businesses to do things, much as adding obstacles makes it more difficult for someone to get from Point A to Point B. So a relevant...