by Dan Mitchell | Mar 10, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs
I periodically share this poster, in part because it’s funny, but mostly because it’s true. After all, can you think of many “success stories” involving government? When I pose this question to my statist friends, I usually get a blank stare in response. Though some...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 9, 2015 | Blogs, Crime, Justice, Society
One of the most important bulwarks of a just society is equal justice under law. That principle is even etched in stone above the entrance to the Supreme Court. My belief in equal treatment is one of the reasons I support the flat tax. As an economist, I like the...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 8, 2015 | Blogs, Taxation
Like many taxpayers, I personally get upset with the Internal Revenue Service when I file my taxes. But I probably get angrier than the average taxpayer. That’s because I have first-hand knowledge of the waste and fraud in the federal budget, so it galls me that so...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 7, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Bureaucracy
I’ve written (some would say ad nauseam) about disproportionately generous pay and benefits for government bureaucrats. Particularly for the gilded class in Washington. I think the evidence for excessive bureaucratic compensation is ironclad, particularly if you look...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 6, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements
Bad ideas definitely have the ability to cross borders. The income tax first appeared in England, on a temporary basis during the Napoleanic wars and then permanently in 1842. It then spread like a cancer to other parts of the world, eventuallyreaching – and plaguing...