CF&P’s been fighting for more than 10 years to stop an IRS regulation that would force American banks to put foreign tax law above US tax law. Sadly, we recently lost that battle when Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner finalized the third version of 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.
Doubling Down on Failure: Former Obama Official Calls for U.S.-Financed Keynesian Spending Binge in Europe
There’s an old saying that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results. This certainly is a good description of Keynesians, who relentlessly push more government spending as some sort of magic potion for the economy –…
When Hugo Chavez Battles Supply and Demand Curves, Guess What Happens?
Haiti may be the poorest nation in the Americas. Cuba may have the dictator with the longest lifespan. But Venezuela arguably has the worst government. Not the clownish dictator, Hugo Chavez, is trying to repeal the laws of economics. How’s that working out for him?…
Utterly Horrifying Stories about the English Welfare State
I’ve occasionally commented on foolish public policy in the United Kingdom, including analysis on how the welfare state destroys lives and turns people into despicable moochers. But if you really want to understand the horrifying absurdity of the welfare state, check…
Measuring the Federal Government’s Spending Problem
I’ve complained endlessly that America’s fiscal problem is too much spending, and that deficits and debt are best understood as symptoms of that underlying disease. So I’m obviously a big fan of this new video from the folks at Learn Liberty. I like how they use…
Switzerland’s “Debt Brake” Is a Role Model for Spending Control and Fiscal Restraint
I’ve argued, ad nauseam, that the single most important goal of fiscal policy is (or should be) to make sure the private sector grows faster than the government. This “golden rule” is the best way of enabling growth and avoiding fiscal crises, and I’ve cited nations…
The “Penny Plan” to Trim Government Spending and Reduce the Burden of the Public Sector
Even though I favor radical reductions in the burden of government, I’ve made the point that good fiscal policy merely requires that government spending grow slower than the private sector – what I call Mitchell’s Golden Rule. And if lawmakers simply cap the growth of…
Portuguese Finance Minister Admits Keynesian Stimulus Was a Flop, but Don’t Hold Your Breath Waiting for Obama to Make a Similar Confession
President Obama imposed a big-spending faux stimulus program on the economy back in 2009, claiming that the government needed to squander about $800 billion to keep the unemployment rate from rising above 8 percent. How did that work out? One possible description is…
Miracles Do Happen: Someone in Brussels Accurately Analyzes Europe’s Fiscal Crisis!
With the exception of a few top-notch thinkers such as Pierre Bessard and Allister Heath, there are very few people in Europe who can intelligently analyze public policy, particularly with regard to fiscal issues. I don’t know if Fredrik Erixon of the Brussels-based…
If You Want To Understand Why Obama’s Tax Agenda Is Bad for Workers, this Picture Says a Thousand Words
A good tax system (like the flat tax) does not impose extra layers of tax on income that is saved and invested. I’ve tried to emphasize this point with a flowchart, and I’ve defended so-called trickle-down economics, which is nothing more than the common-sense notion…