by Dan Mitchell | Oct 28, 2019 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Regulations
The World Bank has released its annual report on the Ease of Doing Business. Unsurprisingly, the top spots are dominated by market-oriented jurisdictions, with New Zealand, Singapore, and Hong Kong (at least for now!) winning the gold, silver, and bronze. The United...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 27, 2019 | Big Government, Blogs, Taxation
In a column last week, I noted that Connecticut ranked near the bottom for state tax policy. And if there was a contest for which state has gone downhill at the fastest pace, the Nutmeg State would likely prevail. Less than 30 years ago, the state was reasonably...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 26, 2019 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
This week featured lots of angst-ridden headlines about the annual budget deficit for the 2019 fiscal year (which ended on September 30) jumping to $984 billion, an increase of more than $200 billion. For reasons I’ve previously outlined, I don’t lose too much sleep...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 25, 2019 | Blogs, Taxation
In a recent interview, I was asked whether all the new spending schemes proposed by Democratic candidates would lead (as has been the case in Europe) to enormous tax increases on the middle class. The answer is yes, of course. But most of the candidates are not honest...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 24, 2019 | Blogs, Free Market
By every possible measure, Chile is the most successful country in Latin America. Income has soared and poverty has plummeted thanks to market-based reforms. It’s not perfect, of course. The nation’s economic freedom score – 7.89 on a 0-10 scale – is good enough for a...
