by Dan Mitchell | Sep 16, 2019 | Big Government, Blogs
The great French economist from the 1800s, Frederic Bastiat, famously explained that good economists are aware that government policies have indirect effects (the “unseen”). Bad economists, by contrast, only consider direct effects (the “seen”). Let’s look at the...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 15, 2019 | Blogs, Tax Competition, Taxation
Like most libertarians, I’m a bit quirky. Most people, if they watch The Great Escape or Rambo II, cheer when American POWs achieve freedom. I’m happy as well, but I also can’t stop myself from thinking about how I also applaud when a successful taxpayer flees from a...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 14, 2019 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Free Market
The folks at the Fraser Institute in Canada have just released a new version of Economic Freedom of the World. As has been the case for many years, Hong Kong is #1 and Singapore is #2, followed by New Zealand (#3) and Switzerland (#4). Interestingly, the United States...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 13, 2019 | Big Government, Blogs
I’ve been in Rome the past few days with my charming and beautiful daughter. We visited the usual tourists spots, including the Coliseum and other remnants of Ancient Rome. And I couldn’t help but wonder how such a powerful empire could collapse, driving people from...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 12, 2019 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics
Identifying the worst government policy would be a challenge. Would it be minimum wage laws, which deprive low-skilled workers of a chance for employment and upward mobility? Would it be class-warfare tax rates that generate large amounts of economic damage compared...
