by Dan Mitchell | Jan 31, 2019 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
The Congressional Budget Office just released it’s annual Budget and Economic Outlook, and that means I’m going to do something that I first did in 2010 and most recently did last year. I’m going to show that it’s actually rather simple to balance the budget...
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 30, 2019 | Blogs, Economics, Trade
Last November, I shared a one-minute video from Freedom Partners on the economics of trade. Here’s a full-length (but still only four minutes) treatment of the issue that I narrated. The first part of the video is a quick glimpse at some of the academic evidence for...
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 28, 2019 | Blogs, Taxation
I’ve periodically opined about why politicians should not try to control people’s behavior with discriminatory taxes, such as the ones being imposed on soda. And I’ve cited some examples of how these taxes backfire. The big drop in soda purchases after a tax on sugary...
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 27, 2019 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Taxation
Maybe I’m just old-fashioned, but I don’t believe in using dodgy numbers or nonsensical analysis – even if that would help my side in a policy debate. And it goes without saying that I also don’t like when the other side is dishonest. But I’m not talking about my...
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 26, 2019 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements
When I think about social welfare spending, I mostly worry about recipients getting trapped in dependency. But I also feel sorry for taxpayers, who are bearing ever-higher costs to finance redistribution programs. Today’s column won’t focus on those issues. Instead,...
