by Dan Mitchell | Dec 17, 2018 | Blogs, Economics, Taxation
I recently wrote about the failed 1990 budget deal. My big complaint was that President George H.W. Bush compounded the mistake of higher taxes by also allowing a big increase in the burden of government spending. However, I didn’t blame the agreement for that year’s...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 16, 2018 | Blogs, Economics, Trade
I have a four-part video series on trade-related topics. Part I focused on the irrelevance of trade balances. Part II looked at specialization and comparative advantage. Here’s Part III, which explains how trade (whether domestic or international) leads to creative...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 15, 2018 | Blogs, Europe, Taxation
Less than 10 years ago, many European nations suffered fiscal crises because of a combination of excessive spending, punitive taxes, and crippling debt. The crises have since abated, largely because of direct and indirect bailouts. But the underlying policy...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 14, 2018 | Blogs, Economics, Taxation
Since I’m a proponent of tax reform, I don’t like special favors in the tax code. Deductions, exemptions, credits, exclusions, and other preferences are back-door forms of cronyism and government intervention. Indeed, they basically exist to lure people into making...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 13, 2018 | Blogs, Taxation
I’m not a fan of President Bush. The first one or the second one. Both adopted policies that, on net, reduced economic liberty. Today, let’s focus on the recently deceased George H.W. Bush (a.k.a., Bush 41). By all accounts, he was a very good man, but that doesn’t...
