There’s an old saying that there’s no such thing as bad publicity. That may be true if you’re in Hollywood and visibility is a key to long-run earnings. But in the world of public policy, you don’t want to be a punching bag. And that describes my role in a book excerpt just published by Salon. Jordan Ellenberg, a mathematics professor […]
read more...The title of this post sounds like the beginning of a strange joke, but it’s actually because we’re covering three issues today. Our first topic is corporate taxation. More specifically, we’re looking at a nation that seems to be learning that it’s foolish the have a punitive corporate tax system. By way of background, the […]
read more...The Export-Import bank is a favorite of big business. It’s also been defended by some misguided free market folk. But it’s bad for jobs and, as this video from the newly launched Daily Signal shows, an exercise in cronyism. CF&P is part of a large coalition calling on Congress to let the Export-Import bank expire. […]
read more...I’ve never been susceptible to the claim that you solve problems with taxpayer money. Indeed, this amusing poster is a pretty good summary of my views on the effectiveness of government spending. But what about the horrific stories about veterans dying because of secret waiting lists and bureaucratic skullduggery at the Veterans Administration? I want to take […]
read more...I’m in Vancouver, Canada, for the biennial meeting of the World Taxpayers Associations. I gave a speech on why tax competition is a valuable force to constrain the greed of the political class, but warned the audience that high-tax governments and international bureaucracies are using financial protectionism to coerce low-tax jurisdictions into weakening their good policies. But regular […]
read more...I believe in free markets and small government, and I’m also against Washington corruption. Which is why I want to abolish the Department of Agriculture. And I suspect all sensible people will agree after reading excerpts from these three articles. We’ll start with Damon Cline, who produced a searing indictment of farm welfare for the Augusta Chronicle. Alexis de Tocqueville posited […]
read more...Detroit’s bankruptcy was created by decades of fiscal irresponsibility. Politicians ruined the economy with high taxes to finance their lavish spending and depleted the tax base. Given this track record, you would think the city would take a more responsible stance during its bankruptcy process. As CF&P President Andrew Quinlan highlighted in a recent op-ed […]
read more...The establishment fervently believes that more money should come to Washington so that politicians have greater ability to buy votes. That’s why statists from both parties are so viscerally hostile to Grover Norquist’s no-tax-hike pledge. They view it as an obstacle to bigger government. And it also explains why politicians who raise taxes are showered with praise, especially […]
read more...More than three years ago, I wrote that the Department of Transportation should be dismantled for the simple reason that we’ll get better roads at lower cost with the federalist approach of returning responsibility to state and local governments. I echoed those sentiments in this CNBC interview. Since there’s only an opportunity to exchange soundbites in these interviews, let […]
read more...The Census Bureau just released a report on America’s aging population. The big takeaway is that our population will be getting much older between now and 2050. And since I’m a baby boomer, I very much like the fact that we’re expected to live longer. But as a public finance economist, I’m not nearly as happy. As […]
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