I’ve criticized the Congressional Budget Office for generating biased and inaccurate numbers. These are the clowns, after all, who say deficit spending stimulates the economy in the short run but they also rely on a model which seemingly predicts 100 percent tax rates…
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.
El Salvador, Greece, and American Tax Dollars: The Destructive Impact of the IMF
The Europeans have just agreed to another bailout for Greece. That’s the bad news. The good news is…well, there is no good news. Sarkozy, Merkel, and the other statists have once again failed to do the right thing and instead have decided to throw good money after bad…
Four Reasons Why Keynesian “Stimulus” Does Not Work
Professor Allan Meltzer of Carnegie Mellon University has a must-read column in today’s Wall Street Journal, beginning with what should be an obvious statement. Those who heaped high praise on Keynesian policies have grown silent as government spending has failed to…
Did I Lose, or Are the People of New York City Unworthy?
Folks of a certain age, who watched ABC’s Wide World of Sports, will remember the phrase “the agony of defeat.” Well, that’s what Richard Epstein and I endured Tuesday night at the Intelligence Squared debate in New York City. We were battling against two Keynesians,…
Tim “Turbotax” Geithner Has a British Soulmate
The Secretary of the Treasury, Tim Geithner, is infamous for conveniently forgetting to pay tax on $80,000 of income and then getting kid-glove treatment from the IRS when his crime was uncovered. Not only did Geithner avoid even a slap on the wrist, he was confirmed…
Kudos to Obama Administration for Fighting Extraterritorial European Tax Scheme
I don’t often have reason to praise the White House. But the Administration occasionally winds up fighting on the right side when dealing with the statists on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. I lauded the Obama Administration two years ago when the Treasury…
Another Reason I Despise Government
One of the reasons I’m a libertarian is that virtually all of my personal interactions with government are unpleasant. * Governments pull me over and give me tickets for trying to efficiently drive from one location to another. * Governments coerce me into filling out…
Grading Perry’s Flat Tax: Some Missing Homework, but a Solid B+
Governor Rick Perry of Texas has announced a plan, which he outlines in today’s Wall Street Journal, to replace the corrupt and inefficient internal revenue code with a flat tax. Let’s review his proposal, using the principles of good tax policy as a benchmark. 1….
The Vatican Should Try to Save Souls, not Ruin Economies
A couple of months ago, after reading an excellent column in the semi-official newspaper of the Vatican, I joked that we should send Obama to Rome for an economics lesson. I now completely retract that statement. There may be some economically astute people who write…
Republicans vs. the Free Market
Over and over again, I tell people to ignore whether politicians have a D or an R after their names. That’s because Democrats sometimes do the right thing and Republicans often do the wrong thing. My latest example of Republicans doing the wrong thing come from…