I’ve had ample reason to praise Hong Kong’s economic policy. Most recently, it was ranked (once again) as the world’s freest economy. And I’ve shown that this makes a difference by comparing Hong Kong’s economic performance to the comparatively lackluster (or weak)…
Daily Analysis
Obama Is Right about the European Economy…But Doesn’t Grasp the Implications
I’m not a big fan of Obamanomics. I don’t like the President’s class-warfare mentality on taxes. I don’t like his support for Keynesian spending policy. And I don’t like his costly expansions of government such as Obamacare. Indeed, I even like mocking his reflexive…
Nation’s Leader Rejects Keynesian Economics, Acknowledges that Real Jobs Are Created by the Private Sector
You’re probably surprised by the title of this post. You may even be wondering if President Obama had an epiphany on the road to Greece? I don’t mean to burst your bubble, but the leader we’re talking about isn’t the President of the United States. Instead, we’re…
Led by North Carolina and Kansas, a Look at States Moving in the Right Direction
My colleagues Chris Edwards and Nicole Kaeding have just released the biannual Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s Governors from the Cato Institute. The Report Card is on the Cato Institute’s most impressive publications sincedevelopments on the state level help…
The Rahn Curve and the Laffer Curve
What’s the relationship between the Rahn Curve and the Laffer Curve? For the uninitiated, the Rahn Curve is the common-sense notion that some government is helpful for prosperous markets but too much government is harmful to economic performance. Even libertarians,…
Slovenia: A Case Study of Missed Opportunities and Economic Decline
I’m a big believer that real-world examples can teach us about the benefits of good fiscal policy (think Hong Kong, Estonia, Canada, and the U.S. under Reagan and Clinton) and the costs of bad fiscal policy (France, Cyprus, Greece, and the U.S. under Bush and Obama)….
A Two-Question Challenge for Supporters of Intervention and Big Government
I want to challenge supporters of intervention and big government. Here are two simple questions. I’ll be happy if I can get a semi-reasonable answer to either of them. 1. Can you name a nation that became rich with statist policies? Before you say Sweden, or…
Statist Policy and the Great Depression
It’s difficult to promote good economic policy when some policy makers have a deeply flawed grasp of history. This is why I’ve tried to educate people, for instance, that government intervention bears the blame for the 2008 financial crisis, not capitalism or…
Obamacare, Cost Curves, the Ever-Worsening Entitlement Crisis, and the Case for Spending Restraint
I’m very worried about the burden of government spending. Moreover, I’m quite concerned that poorly designed entitlement programs will lead to fiscal disaster. And I’m especially irked that Obama made the problem worse by ramming through yet another misguided and…
Can Greece Be Rescued?
I’m a pessimist about public policy for two simple reasons: 1) Seeking power and votes, elected officials generally can’t resist making short-sighted and politically motivated choices that expand the burden of government. 2) Voters are susceptible to bribery,…