by Dan Mitchell | Oct 19, 2017 | Big Government, Blogs, Taxation
I’ve written several times that the left wants big tax hikes on poor and middle-class taxpayers. Simply stated, that’s the only way they can finance a European-sized welfare state. Some of them even admit they want to pillage ordinary taxpayers. The editors at the New...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 18, 2017 | Big Government, Blogs
A few days ago, using several methodologies, I calculated how fast government spending increased during the presidencies of Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. One of my big...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 17, 2017 | Blogs, Economics, Laffer Curve
I gave a couple of speeches about fiscal policy in Australia late last week. During the Q&A sessions (as so often happens when I speak overseas), the audiences mostly asked questions about Donald Trump. I generally give a three-part response. I tell them I was...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 16, 2017 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
I’ve learned that it’s more important to pay attention to hard numbers rather than political rhetoric. Republicans, for instance, love to beat their chests about spending restraint, but I never believe them without first checking the numbers. Likewise, Democrats have...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 15, 2017 | Blogs, Taxation
When companies want to boost sales, they sometimes tinker with products and then advertise them as “new and improved.” In the case of governments, though, I suspect “new” is not “improved.” The British territory of Jersey, for instance, has a very good tax system. It...
