by Dan Mitchell | Apr 5, 2017 | Blogs, Economics, Minimum Wage
The real world is like a cold shower for our friends on the left. Everywhere they look, there is evidence that jurisdictions with free markets and small government outperform places with big welfare states and lots of intervention. That’s true when comparing nations....
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 4, 2017 | Blogs, Tax Competition, Taxation
The good news is that the House put together an Obamacare-repeal bill that reduced the fiscal burden of government. The bad news is that the legislation didn’t address the regulations and interventions that produce rising costs and sectoral inefficiency because of the...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 3, 2017 | Blogs, Education
What federal program is most sacrosanct, even though it delivers poor results? Is it federal aid to education, which has plenty of defenders even though it is inversely related to school performance? Is it unemployment insurance, which has plenty of defenders even...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 2, 2017 | Blogs, Economics
Donald Trump wants the federal government to subsidize child care. If enacted, this policy is sure to increase costs and lead to inefficiency, just as similar types of intervention have caused problems in both healthcare and higher education. While Trump’s proposal is...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 1, 2017 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements
Certain redistribution programs are called “entitlements” because anybody who meets various criteria is “entitled” to automatically get money or other benefits. Economists worry that such programs (particularly the “means-tested” entitlements) create perverse...
