Alberto Alesina of Harvard’s economics department summarizes some of his research in a column for today’s Wall Street Journal. He and a colleague looked at fiscal policy changes in developed nations and found very strong evidence that spending reductions boost growth….
Daily Analysis
Does the War on Poverty Fight Destitution or Subsidize It?
The Census Bureau will be releasing new poverty-rate numbers on Thursday and the numbers are expected to show a big move in the wrong direction. Much of the coverage will be on how much the poverty rate increases, with 15 percent being a likely amount according to…
Keynes Was Wrong on Stimulus, but the Keynesians Are Wrong on Just about Everything
Dana Milbank of the Washington Post wrote this weekend that critics of Keynesianism are somewhat akin to those who believe the earth is flat. He specifically cites the presumably malignant influence of the Cato Institute. Keynes was right, and in this case it’s…
Why Is the Left so Sensitive about Cuba?
I touched a raw nerve with my post about Fidel Castro admitting that the Cuban model is a failure. Matthew Yglesias and Brad DeLong both attacked me. DeLong’s post was nothing more than a link to the Yglesias post with a snarky comment about “why can’t we have better…
The World’s Biggest Political Clown?
I’m working on a serious blog post about European fiscal developments, but my research on that issue has alerted me to a couple of stories about President Jose Manuel Barroso that cry out for immediate mockery and abuse. Mr. Barroso, for those that don’t follow the…
Obama’s New Stimulus Schemes: Same Song, Umpteenth Verse
Like a terrible remake of Groundhog Day, the White House has unveiled yet another so-called stimulus scheme. Actually, they have two new proposals to buy votes with our money. One plan is focused on more infrastructure spending, as reported by Politico. Seeking to…
Will Entitlements, Handouts, and other Government Programs Turn America into a Nation of Sheep?
If you saw the Wall-E movie, you may remember how people morphed into helpless blobs because all their needs were being fulfilled by something called BNL. I realize I’m a quirky libertarian, but the movie made me think about how excessive government is doing something…
Dishonest British Budgeting…Just Like We Do It in America
According to news coverage, United Kingdom Prime Minister Cameron is imposing deep and savage budget cuts. I was interviewed by the BBC recently, for instance, and asked whether 25 percent spending reductions were too harsh. And here’s an excerpt from a New York Times…
Fighting Class Warfare in a Debate with a CAP Statist
Two things struck me about this debate. First, the guy from the Center for American Progress was either clueless or dishonest about double taxation. Second, nobody seems to understand that balancing the budget is a simple matter of restraining the growth of government…
A Strange Debate on CNBC
I think I did okay in this debate, but my opponent wanted me to defend Bush and didn’t seem to get my point that I don’t like big-spending interventionists, regardless of whether they have a D or R after their names.