I’m not a very exciting guy. It’s Saturday afternoon and I’m perusing the Budget and Economic Outlook from the Congressional Budget Office. But sometimes it pays to be a nerd because I just found an interesting tidbit of information. Here’s what CBO says about the…
Dan Mitchell
Daniel J. Mitchell is the President of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity and the Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation. Dr. Mitchell advocates limited government and fundamental tax reform, and is the nation’s leading opponent of tax harmonization schemes developed by the Brussels-based European Union, the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the United Nations.
In addition to fiscal policy, Dr. Mitchell is a trenchant observer of economic developments and an expert on Social Security reform – particularly the fiscal policy impact of reform and what the US can learn from other nations that have created personal retirement accounts.
The Revised Bowles-Simpson Tax-Hike Plan Might Be even Worse than the Previous Version
I wrote last September that the budget plan put forward by Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson was fatally flawed. There were some positive features in the plan, to be sure, such as lower marginal tax rates. And I suppose it’s worth noting that the burden of government…
Why Art Laffer’s Unfortunate Endorsement of an State Sales Tax Cartel Is Misguided
Art Laffer has a guaranteed spot in the liberty hall of fame because he popularized the common-sense notion that you can’t make any assumptions about tax rates and tax revenue without also figuring out what happens to taxable income. Lot’s of people on the left try to…
It’s Tax Freedom Day, So Congratulations (if You Don’t Live in New York, California, New Jersey, Illinois, etc)
It’s time to celebrate. That’s because we have reached Tax Freedom Day, meaning that – in the aggregate – we have finally earned enough money to pay for all the federal, state, and local taxes that will be imposed on us this year by our political masters. But we’re…
There’s Not Much Hope for Tax Reform
In recent months, I’ve displayed uncharacteristic levels of optimism on issues ranging from Obamacare to the Laffer Curve. But this doesn’t mean I’m now a blind Pollyanna. We almost always face an uphill battle in our efforts to restrain the power and greed of the…
The United Kingdom Boldly Rejoins the Government Incompetence and Stupidity Contest
I periodically compare the actions of brainless politicians and bureaucrats in both the United States and the United Kingdom. One of the most bizarre examples I cited was from England. It showed how a local government decided to install the most pointless sign in the…
New GAO Study Mistakenly Focuses on Make-Believe Tax Expenditures
I’m very leery of corporate tax reform, largely because I don’t think there are enough genuine loopholes on the business side of the tax code to finance a meaningful reduction in the corporate tax rate. That leads me to worry that politicians might try to “pay for”…
An Aggravating Reminder of Government Waste on Tax Day
Remember the Spending Quiz from 2010, which asked people to guess whether absurd examples of government waste were true or false? Well, we have a new video on government waste, though bureaucrats and politicians have become so profligate it doesn’t even bother to…
What Really Happened in Cyprus?
Did Cyprus become an economic basket case because it is a tax haven, as some leftists have implied? Did it get in trouble because the government overspent, which I have suggested? The answers to those questions are “no” and “to some degree.” The real problem, as I…
Entitlement Spending Is America’s Biggest Fiscal Challenge, but Discretionary Spending Is Still Far too High
If America descends into Greek-style fiscal chaos, there’s no doubt that entitlement programs will be the main factor. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Disability are all fiscal train wrecks today, and the long-run outlook for these programs is frightful. Just…