by Dan Mitchell | Mar 30, 2015 | Blogs, Economics, Free Market
There’s a “convergence” theory in economics that suggests, over time, that “poor nations should catch up with rich nations.” But in the real world, that seems to be the exception rather than the rule. There’s an interesting and informative article at the St. Louis...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 29, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs
As an economist, my primary objection to excessive government is – or at least should be – based on foregone growth. After all, government spending (whether it is financed by taxes or borrowing) diverts resources from the productive sector of society and results in...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 28, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
This is a column I never expected to write. That’s because I’m going to applaud Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman. This won’t be unconstrained applause, to be sure. Roosevelt, after all, pursued awful policies that lengthened and deepened the economic...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 27, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs
Nothing can compare with the horrible outrage of bureaucrats awarding themselves bonuses after putting veterans on secret waiting lists and denying them care, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t care about the latest example of overspending and...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 26, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Waste, Welfare and Entitlements
As shown by this graphic, why are so many people in Maine taking advantage of the food stamp program? As shown by this map, why does Oregon have such a high level of food stamp dependency? These are just rhetorical questions since I don’t have the answers. But if we...
