by Dan Mitchell | Feb 27, 2020 | Big Government, Blogs
The most obvious threat to free enterprise is Bernie Sanders, though other prominent leftists are giving “Crazy Bernie” plenty of competition. But I sometimes wonder whether the more tangible threat to capitalism comes from self-described conservatives who say they...
by Dan Mitchell | Feb 26, 2020 | Blogs, Economics, Socialism
Last week, I shared a 24-question quiz that ostensibly determines whether you’re a communist. Though it might be just as accurate to ask one simple question: Do you have warm feelings about the Marxist dictatorship in Cuba? On that basis, Bernie Sanders fails. At...
by Dan Mitchell | Feb 25, 2020 | Uncategorized
Back in 2014, I shared a World Bank study that measured how tax complexity facilitates more corruption by government officials. Not that anyone should have been surprised. Complex tax codes enable politicians to extort bribes when writing the law (a problem that...
by Dan Mitchell | Feb 24, 2020 | Blogs, Crime, Society
Back in 2012, I asked readers to pretend they were criminals and to contemplate whether they would want to rob a house with armed residents. This “IQ test” was designed to help people understand that cost-benefit analysis applies to all types of human...
by Dan Mitchell | Feb 23, 2020 | Blogs, Economics, Trade
Early last year, I shared a video explaining that trade deficits generally don’t matter. I even suggested trade deficits might be a sign of economic strength because foreigners who earned dollars were anxious to invest them in the American economy. I’m recycling this...
