by Dan Mitchell | Jun 16, 2020 | Blogs, Uncategorized
Libertarians believe in limited government for both moral reasons (government coercion is bad) and utilitarian reasons (nations with small government enjoy much higher levels of prosperity than countries with bigger governments). But if small government is good, would...
by Dan Mitchell | Jun 15, 2020 | Big Government, Blogs, States
As indicated by one of my columns last week, I’m a big believer in federalism. Indeed, I’ve even proposed that Washington shouldn’t operate any social programs. No food stamps. No Medicaid. No redistribution programs of any kind. Such programs, to the extent they...
by Dan Mitchell | Jun 13, 2020 | Blogs, Economics
If you want to understand how government really works, learn about “public choice.” This is the common-sense theory that politicians and other people in politics often make decisions based on self interest, and it does a very good job of explaining why we get so many...
by Dan Mitchell | Jun 12, 2020 | Blogs, Economics
There’s much to dislike about Keynesian economics, most notably that it tells politicians that their vice – buying votes by spending other people’s money – is somehow a virtue. Advocates of Keynesianism also can be very simplistic, sometimes falling victim to the...
by Dan Mitchell | Jun 11, 2020 | Big Government, Blogs
One week ago, I wrote about how the welfare state creates high implicit marginal tax rates, thus making it difficult for low-income people to climb out of poverty and dependence. But that’s not the only way that poor people are victimized by big government. Another...
