I cover a wide range of issues in this interview for Bloomberg Asia. My main theme, not surprisingly, is that government is too big. And I specifically warn about the looming explosion of entitlement spending as the baby boom generation retires.
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.
Obama’s Failed Response to the Downgrade and the Outlook for Fixing America’s Spending Crisis
President Obama just spoke about the downgrade and his remarks were very disappointing. He uttered some empty platitudes, offered no plan, (amazingly) called for more government spending, and continued his advocacy of class-warfare taxation. So what does this mean?…
Is Satellite TV Now a Human Right?
I’m getting sick of the debt downgrade issue, so let’s shift to another topic. The title to this post may seem like a joke, but Europe’s bizarre courts have decided to trample the property rights of landlords by ruling that tenants have a “right” to satellite TV and…
To Be Fair, Obama’s Responsibility for the Downgrade Is only 15 Percent
It was a strange experience to read the comments and emails generated by yesterday’s post on the “Obama downgrade.” Democrats and liberals were upset that I blamed Obama for the downgrade, as you might expect. Republicans and conservatives, however, were agitated that…
What Are the Consequencs of the Obama Downgrade?
Even though I predicted it had to happen at some point because of the Bush-Obama spending binge and America’s giant long-run entitlement crisis, I confess that I’m somewhat surprised that the United States has suffered a debt downgrade for the first time. That being…
The Two Obama Job Disasters
We all know about the wretched failure of Obama’s stimulus, and we can update the chart showing that the joblessness rate is two-and-one-half percentage points higher than the White House claimed it would be at this point if we flushed $800 billion down the Washington…
2.8 Cheers for House Republicans
Before we get wrapped up in the next fiscal fights, it’s time to step back and give House Republicans a bit of love and affection. While I criticize them for some tactical blunders and needless compromises, the most important thing is whether they are willing – when…
The Clown Prince of Europe
If Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama are neck-and-neck competitors in the contest to be the public face of incompetent statism in America, then the competition in Europe is between Herman van Rompuy and Olga Stefou. But since I’ve already crowned Ms. Stefou as the Queen…
Senator Rubio vs. Rogue IRS Bureaucrats
Senator Rubio continues to impress with his Reagan-like efforts to restrain government and promote growth. His latest initiative is legislation to curtail rogue IRS bureaucrats who are seeking to use regulatory edicts to overturn 90 years of law. Here are excerpts…
Spending Is Nuts, the Debt Deal’s a Joke, and Some Big Fights Remain
Here’s the video that won the lucrative Powerline prize. Perhaps not as catchy as the entry I posted a couple of days ago, but very well done, with a proper focus on excessive government. And here’s a video just released by Cato on why the debt deal – at best – is a…